Tea Regions of Japan – Saitama (Part 3) | Tokorozawa featuring Moritaen

You can find tea in several areas of Saitama prefecture. One of them, Tokorozawa city, is currently the second largest tea producing area here. Saitama has a long tea cultivation history, and a new farming area around Tokorozawa was created about 300 years ago. However, recently the number of tea farms has been decreasing. Being a part of Saitama, one of the most northern tea growing regions of Japan, the climate in Tokorozawa is colder, and tea leaves grow thicker. Deep-steamed tea, Fukamushi-che, is the most common tea here, but the length of steaming may vary depending on the season. Morita family has been making tea for five generations, but their family history is longer than that, 12 generations. Currently, they are managing just a bit more than two hectares of land. Perhaps a bit unique for Tokorozawa is that nearly half of Morita Yen tea is shaded. Most of Morita Yen tea is sold retail to the customers who visit their shop. In addition to making tea, Morita Yen also holds some tea events. One of them is a tea experience for primary school students. Morita-san started making tea about seven years ago. In addition to tea, Morita-san has been doing other jobs as well. I run a tea farm. My father runs it. Our main job is to set up irrigation systems for agriculture. We dig a deep channel and bring water to a farmer's house to grow tea. It's like helping a farmer. I think it's possible because we feel the same way. How much time do you spend on tea in a year? On average, it's about six to four hours. I do a lot of irrigation. But I also do two-channel irrigation. Returning back to tea, processing is what Morita-san enjoys the most. It's the same with agriculture, but I think manufacturing is quite interesting. You can see a huge difference with your own eyes. Depending on the season and variety, the taste is different. I think it's a delicate difference, but I'm starting to realize that I'm getting older. I think that if I spend a little more time, I'll be able to see a different kind of fun. I've been to a lot of factories and heard a lot about manufacturing. It's interesting to see what happens when you press it. I don't think you'll see the same eyes every year. It's interesting to make tea that fits your taste. Morita-san finds the tea production is similar to cooking. I think tea is more like cooking than manufacturing. I think it's best if you can make food that fits the material. And it is wonderful when customers appreciate their tea. I think it's the process of making something that you've been working on for a year. Thinking about the future, rather than increasing the land, Morita-san would like to focus on quality. I'm not going to increase the area. I'm going to do my best to deliver what I have now to my customers.