Next month I'll hit the road again...destination: Japan :-)
I will travel from Osaka/Kansai Region to Sendai via Fujiyama and Tokyo, and I've got plenty of time... Could anyone here provide me with information about teaplaces next to my route? I'd like to see some actual teaplantations and harvest (if possible at this time of the year), tea schools, shops....etc.
Is there a website that lists tea plantations in japan?
Also I'd like to taste some of the local teas. I kinda like all of those japanese gyokuru, sencha, kabuse-cha...etc that are imported to germany...but I want to taste the REAL stuff ;-) ...any recomendations?
Plan to spend several days in Kyoto-Uji (the craddle of Japanese tea), and in the Shizuoka area at the feet of the mount Fuji (Fujisan). I didn't go recently, but they had show rooms explaining in several languages tea history and process in Uji-town and in...forget the name...near the highway in Shizuoka. There are smaller places less famous but that can be worth seeing as they are certainly less industrialized and see less tourists. In Shikoku (a few hours of bus from Kansai), they produce a number of original local teas (the sort you never see anywhere else), and that island is pleasant to visit for people that have plenty of time.
I'll post most accurate data later.
You'll see plenty.
It's possible to see and participate to bancha harvest in small tea farms.
Kyoto is the place, the heart of tea culture (also with the meals around it, the potteries, tradionnal cakes, etc) and they have kept tastes and traditions unfortunately lost in other big cities. I think you can participate at tea ceremonies, as they organise some for foreign visitors.
So you can skip Mariage Freres (you've seen one, you've seen them all, they don't do local teas at all) and go anywhere else...
I live in Osaka, so tell me when you'll be in the area. I can give a few calls to check about tea events in Kansai and even join you for a day trip. In fact, I should be ashamed but I have not visited many tea places.
I have been there and it is a nice place to learn something about tea history and production. I remember that Shizuoka station is not the closest to the museum, so ask to the ticket office which is the right one. Shizuoka area is also one of the bigger tea production centre in Japan, and you can see many tea gardens there.
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