About tea of organic farming
By avoiding usage of chemical fertilizer, organic tea has nature-harmonized flavor. Natural moisture, temperature and overall whether help extract tea's own natural flavor. In this way, in the true meaning you can cherish the splendor of nature by tasting the tea. Using chemical fertilizer means it puts chemical power on botanical ecology and force tea to grow. You cannot expect the natural taste itself to come out. By enjoying our JIEN-CHA (organic family-farm tea), you can also enjoy the local nature itself.


Greetings from
Shizuoka Organic Tea Farmers' Union of Japan
We are organic-tea farmers whose farms situate in the four different river basins in Shizuoka area in the central part of the mainland Japan. We have gathered regularly and exchanged information about cultivation of organic tea and have encouraged each other for our aim. Shizuoka is famous as a main tea producing area in Japan. However, there are very few farmers making the tea of no pesticide. The information exchange of difficult organic tea cultivation is very valuable. And it helps technical improvement. We are tea farmer friends doing such a study 20 years.
This is "Shizuoka organic farmers' union of Japan ".

There are two characteristics of our tea cultivation.

1, Our tea is through organic farming.
Only 1.6% of the total tea production in Japan is through organic farming. We have maintained or organic farming and pursued the original taste and flavor of organic tea which is harmonized with our local environment and nature.

2, Our tea is JIEN-CHA.
JIEN means "own farm" and CHA means "tea". Each of our member has his own tea farm and his own processing factory. Thus the tea grown, processed and packed by one farm is called"JIEN-CHA". Just like wine, "JIEN-CHA" is "terroir" tea through which you can enjoy the taste of its soil and the definite personality of the farm itself. Though this way of producing tea is traditional, thethethe"JIEN-CHA" style is getting rare these days while somewhat standardized tea production by big makers becomes mainstream.
Four local
organic "JIEN-CHA".
(family-farm tea)
Each tea farm takes charge in every process of tea production-growing tea, processing tea and even packing.
Every SEN-CHA is different in taste, flavor and color because of local yearly whether and its soil. To face the difference, each farm has different way of processing and finishing their tea.
Honyama-cha
šOrganic JIEN-CHA of the "Warashina River" basin.
šclutovation area 250a
šMeters above the sea level 360m
šTea cultivation and processing by "Katsumi Saito".
šharvest method/with the machine
šFull bodied but yet mellow and refined flavor. Mr.Saito's tea garden is located in a representative tea-making area. Its brand name Honyama-cha is known as Tokugawa shogunatefs favorite.
ša short-time steamingiits way to process teaj
šlight yellow tea iSen-Chaj
ša kind of tea making/ sen-cha/gyokuro/kabuse-cha/ryoku-cha(narashi-ban)/houj-icha/etc
Mr.Saito
harvest with a family
remove tree waste to harvest
machine to steam
finished tea



Fujieda-cha
šOrganic JIEN-CHA of the "Ooi River" basin.
šclutovation area 9ha
šMeters above the sea level 100`650m
šTea cultivation and processing by "Tadatsugu Tsukamoto".
šharvest method/with the machine and hand picking.
šRefreshing light-bitter taste spreading in basic sweetness. Mr.Tsukamoto's tea garden is located in a area blessed with fine water of Ooi River and has a long history of tea cultivation.
ša short-time steamingiits way to process teaj
šdark green tea iSen-Chaj
ša kind of tea making/ sen-cha/ara-cha/kuki-cha/powder tea/genmai-cha/etc
Mr.Tsukamoto
tea garden
harvest with a family
harvest with a family
hand picking



Ryoukouchi-cha
šOrganic JIEN-CHA of the "Okitsu River" basin.
šclutovation area 20a
šMeters above the sea level 400`600m
šTea cultivation and processing by "Mitsuo Iwasaki".
šharvest method/with the machine and hand picking.
šA a flavor to remind you of young fresh leaves. Mr.Iwasaki's tea garden is located in an area famous for producing Ryoukouchi-cha. Its river mist moist the air, screens the direct sunlight and eventually give birth to refreshing tea flavor.
ša middle-time steamingiits way to process teaj
šgreenish yellow tea
ša kind of tea making/ sen-cha/shizen-shitate(hand pickingj/ban-cha/etc
Mr.Iwasaki
whole view
tea garden
harvest with a family
hand picking



Fujinomiya-cha
šOrganic JIEN-CHA of the "Fuji River" basin.
šclutovation area 220a
šMeters above the sea level 300`550m
šTea cultivation and processing by "Motohiko Sano".
šharvest method/with the machine
šBalance and harmony of sweetness and bitterness. Mr.sano's tea garden is located at the foot of famous Mt. Fuji. The cold wind fallen from Fui-yama tightens and sharpens tea flavor.
š a normal steamingiits way to process teaj
šgolden yellow teaiSen-Chaj
ša kind of tea making/ sen-cha/houji-cha/kuki-cha/powder tea/etc
Mr.Sano
tea leaf which was harvest.
rainy tea garden
camelia and tea garden
Mt.Fuji and tea garden




ˆê‰€ˆí’ƒ@hIchien-iccha"
Let us spread Japanese organic"JIEN-CHA"
"Ichi-en iccha". This means " one farm, one tea ( its own tea)".
In 2005, Mr. Giacomo Mojoli, International Director of Association of Slow Food, came to Shizuoka to see our tea production. He commented that the organic"JIEN-CHA" here has variety of tea-trees which keeps harmony with the soil of each farm and its whether and he understood each farm owner understands it and is pursuing his own way of organic cultivation. He also commented that because of the refined way of tea processing which gives life to the local tea, each tea is worth being called a real gem, and that if it is possible to evaluate these teas in way of evaluating wines, each tea is exactly a "terroir" tea. Lastly he suggested that this type of tea should be known both inside and outside of Japan. His visit drove Mr. Yoshiyuki Kihara, a pioneer of Japan's organic farming movement and also an adviser of our group, to plan"Ichien iccha"movement whose aim is to unite the organic tea farmers here and spread their tea not only in Japan but to the world. The members of our group also agreed and began to ask their friends to join.
Yoshiyuki Kihara
April 2005
Mr. Giacomo Mojoli,
With the members of Shizuoka Organic Tea Farmers Union of Japan

`Let us spread Japanese organic"JIEN-CHA"`. We called the organic jien-cha farmers of the all over Japan. As a result, 28 JIEN-CHA farmers thought this action to be good and gave communication. And we participated in "Terramadre" in 2006 to tell a world person about existence of Japanese organic JIEN-CHA farmers. We announced our action. And we conveyed a state of now of the japanese organic tea. We participated in "salone del gust" and held the workshop of the Japanese tea. It was pleased with very much. Thank you very much. For us, it was studied very much.

šTerramadre2006
šTerramadre `special tea party`2006
šsalone del gust `workshop` 2006