Hirayama is one site in Shizuoka where the noted honyamacha is produced. Okumidori green tea is carefully grown to produce a brew with a distinctive fresh aroma and refined, gentle sweetness, free of harsh edges. This quality is especially evident in the crisp aftertaste.

With a very clean flavor, the tea pairs well with food, making it suitable for a wide range of uses, including served with tea cakes or sweets, as hot tea go with a meal, or as a cold drink served over ice. Enjoy the taste of refined green tea from Shizuoka, with a rich umami and restrained astringent and bitter notes.A rare, premium green tea: only 200kg are produced each year.

Ushizuma is located near the Abe River at 500 meters elevation. The green tea, produced in the mountainous region of the Abe river and Warashina river basin, is called Honyama tea. It is known as one of the finest teas even in Shizuoka prefecture, which is home to many high quality teas. The “hon” that forms part of its name is a reference to the traditional distinction between “honcha” (“real” tea) which is tea from the region and “hicha” (“false” tea) which is tea from other regions. The history of green tea production in the region dates back 800 years. In the Edo period, the region’s tea became popular across Japan after it was favored by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The geological layer in this mountainous area extends over 1000m and is called the “Setogawa group”. It is a 30-60 million year old Paleozoic strata which is said to be optimal for the production of green tea. The climate found at higher elevations is said to be the ideal environment for growing tea trees, which are originally mountain crops. Although risks to cultivation increase at higher elevations due to factors such as lower temperatures, it allows for the attainment of a deep fragrance and savouriness that cannot be matched by green tea that is grown in lowland fields.

This excellent varietal is obtained by crossing the yabukita varietal with Shizuoka native strain no. 16, a variety of green tea plant carefully designated from within Shizuoka’s range of native tea varieties. It offers a bold, bright color and mildly sweet flavor, with little bitterness and astringency and no strong aftertaste. These features make it a high-grade sencha tea, but it is also used widely for matcha, gyokuro, and other preparations.(Many farmers count on the cultivar as the Yabukita second.)

Until now, producing new cultivars has been generally avoided over concerns about yield and properly managing the cultivation of new crops. Thanks to the unflagging improvements small-scale farms have made in their growing techniques, production of wider varieties of tea is now becoming a reality. This okumidorii draws on advanced cultivation techniques to better draw out the distinctively rich flavor and unique aroma that are features of sencha.

Even today, the “shikikusa” technique is used to keep the soil fertile. Grasses inhabiting nearby hills and fields are collected and matted into a groundcover placed between rows of the plantation. This traditional technique requires an exceeding amount of effort and is generally avoided for that reason, but it is indispensable in the production of quality green tea: the soil bed retains heat and moisture and helps produce magnesium, a key component in green tea’s aroma.