A Visit to The Hibiki-An, Mr. Atsushi Yasui's tea farm - 9/1/05
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We took a one-hour train ride to Uji station in Kyoto prefecture. Mr. Yasui was there to meet us at the station and gave us a ride. He spent the whole afternoon showing us around, serving tea etc.

On the way from Uji station to his farm

(20min or so ride)

We first stopped at one of his family farms.

Mr. Yasui's organic products come from his closely cooperating farms.

Mr. Yasui picks the top leaves to show us. This is Sencha farm. Shin-cha (literally "new tea", the first harvest of the year) is picked in May. He said that they can harvest up to 4 times a year, although the first pick is always the best. They can also store, avoiding oxidation, Shin-cha and blend with later picks.

A close-up view of the leaves.

Newly planted area - will be ready for harvest in 3 years.

	This is Gyokuro farm. The tea itself is the same as Sencha, but the leaves are covered from the sun for a few weeks before picking. Lack of sun just before harvest brings the special Gyokuro flavor to the tea. Note the fan in yellow circle. (There are more, not in the picture.) They keep running to stir the air during April to avoid 'spring frost' which will damage upcoming Shin-cha pick.

We next stopped at the organic farm of his cooperating tea farm. Note brown spots caused by insects. They are far more prone to insects' eating leaves. They can realistically harvest high quality organic tea only once a year due to lack of nutrition caused by limited use of fertilizers. Weeding is also a tedious process in organic farming.

	Organic Sencha in foreground More air-stirring fans visible in distance

Mr. Yasui then took us to his house right next to his parents' house (his father was not home) and made tea for us. He keeps his family tea in the wooden box seen in front of him.
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	He also served dessert that his wife had made - Matcha (powdered tea) mousse and tea cookies. Mr. Yasui's wife was there to greet us with their younger son when we arrived, but had to go pick their elder son at the kindergarten.



	He then drove us to the birth house of So'en Nagatani (1681-1778) - the inventor of the present-day green tea process that is used throughout Japan.

The house has a traditional thatched roof. The original tea-making tools and a storage pot (big enough for a large man to bathe in!) are on display.

Before taking us back to the station, Mr. Yasui made a final stop at a cooperating Matcha (powdered tea) factory. Many motorized stone grinders spin all day to produce very fine powdered tea that is used for tea ceremony, and for making tea-based products.

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