Koichi, Tea Field Farmer
“ No matter what country you go to, I believe that the people who are conscious about the natural environment, are the people who actually think about where the products come from. And I think it’s important to be able to properly communicate with such people.”
A coastal city surrounded by sharp cliffs, Sonogi's tea fields rise high above the city center, almost cradling the downtown area in an agricultural embrace. Mineral-rich, coastal ocean air wafts to the fields, providing robust nourishment for the tea bushes which grow densely together from seaside to steep slopes. Sonogi is the primary tea growing region in Nagasaki, producing over half of the prefecture's total tea. Over 300 different farming families diligently manage the fields, often with no clear borders between where one person's portion ends and another begins.
Tea culture in Japan has flourished for centuries — if not millennia — and is inseparable from Japanese culture as a whole. The origins of tea in Japanese culture date back to the 9th century, when Buddhist monk Eichu served tea to Emperor Saga. Tea gained further significance in the 12th century with monk Eisei’s introduction of matcha, eventually evolving into a formalized ceremony under tea master Sen no Rikyu in the 16th century. Today, the tea ceremony continues to symbolize refinement while honoring its deeply rooted traditions of hospitality and mindfulness.
Koichi-san brings these traditions into the tea growing process by carefully thinking about the environment in which the tea is grown and the customers who would eventually enjoy his tea, constantly seeking to elevate his production process. Deeper Japan spoke with Koichi-san to learn more about his and his family's tea growing roots, as well as his personal endeavors of creating environmentally conscious tea production.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about this place, including the tea farm? And what does your tea farm place the most value on?
A: Tea was first mass-produced here during the post-War Showa period. Beginning in around 1945, my grandfathers' generation cultivated the land and opened it up, planting mandarin oranges and tea. Then in the 1960s, my father's generation, those who are now in their 70’s, worked to grow tea more efficiently, to make a living by producing tea as a crop and shipping it out as an agricultural product. From the 1960’s to the 1970’s, the infrastructure was developed. At that time, we learned a lot about tea production from Ureshino, in Saga Prefecture, which is famous for its tea, and with that, the foundation was established. And so, it was expanded to its present state with the selling of the product in mind.
As for the land, the mountainside here drains water very well, and faces the south so the land soaks up the sun. It was easy to grow crops, especially tea trees and mandarin oranges. The resulting quality was good, and it's still going strong today. I think those are the reasons behind such quality growth and production here.
I, myself, take the environment, the global environment, very seriously. I try to eliminate the factors that contribute to global warming in the course of farming and production. First of all, we don't use anything that isn't good for the environment. For example, we don't use any herbicides. We haven't been for the past several years. The other thing is the pesticides. This year, we started using no pesticides at all. Until then, we were using original pesticides with a dilution factor of half the standard amount. And second, I've been thinking about how to create a system out in the tea fields that would allow for better circulation of resources.
I really want to create something that would be good for the health of the drinker.
Q: So, you're very much deep in the tea farming industry as a tea farmer now but, how did you arrive at this point and how did you come to the decision of becoming a tea farmer?
A: I started farming when I was about 23 or 24 years old. Before that, I was working as a regular company employee. To put it bluntly, when I wondered how much was expected of me at my paygrade and how much I could potentially earn, I felt that my path upward was limited. Hence, working for a company didn’t feel rewarding anymore. The only environment where I could do what I wanted was at home. It was there that I realized that I wanted to keep my family's tea business. And, that I wanted to have more freedom in what I did.
At the time, I was an avid surfer. Surfing is all about the waves. You don't know when the waves are going to be. So I chose this profession because of that similar freedom of choice. I no longer surf but I continued it until I was 30 or so. Once you have a family, you have to devote your free time to them. So naturally, I distanced myself from surfing when I started a family. Thankfully, it was easy for me to make the switch to playing and spending time with my family.
Q: Guests coming here will be able to see the factory and the fields like you showed us today. Do you have anything that you'd like them to see and take away from coming here? A small glimpse into the people behind products, or maybe even just experiencing something memorable during their travels in Japan?
A: Our tea making is what is known as a 360-degree view tea making, where we don't just focus on green tea (ryokucha) or have a one-size-fits-all approach. We've been aiming to create products that any customer can choose from. So even if there is, say, a customer who cannot drink green tea (ryokucha) but can drink roasted green tea (hojicha), we would be able to provide them with a freedom of choice. That's one thing.
Another is the environment. No matter what country you go to, I believe that the people who are conscious about the natural environment, are the people who actually think about it. And I think it's important to be able to properly communicate with such people. I feel a strong sense of responsibility from my position in the agricultural industry so I hope I can do that properly.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
A: Actually, there is a lot more that I wanted to say (laughter).
Q: Please tell us a little bit more then.
A: If you listen, you'll notice that the birds never stop singing here. Among the 20 or so fields we have, this one is the only place where the birds never stop singing. So, it goes without saying that this is an environment where you can hear birdsong and all kinds of other natural sounds. It would be wonderful if guests could experience this when they visit.
With careful consideration of the environment and always seeking to improve his tea fields in innovative ways, Koichi-san heartily welcomes all guests to experience the bountiful harmony of nature and tea production that Sonogi has to offer.
Join Koichi-san on a serene stroll through the tea fields of Sonogi , learning about the history of tea in Japan and traditional farming practices. Then, after a tour, taste a selection of both classic and innovative Japanese teas produced by Koichi-san's farm.
Read more, here.
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