Suimeien Okamoto Tea Manufacturing is located in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, on the border with Shizuoka Prefecture, and has a beautiful, bright green tea plantation covering approximately 5 hectares. The company’s grandfather moved from Makinohara City in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the Makinohara Plateau is famous as a tea production area, to cultivate the land. The fourth generation, Hirotoshi Okamoto, is working to broaden the range of ways to enjoy tea by commercializing powdered and tea packaged products and opening the farm to the public. We will explore the tea production that Mr. Hirotoshi, who is looking to the future, is aiming for.
Toyohashi tea in Aichi Prefecture, where tea cultivation is also popular
Toyohashi City, located in southeastern Aichi Prefecture on the border with Shizuoka Prefecture, is the central city of the Higashimikawa region and has the fifth largest population in Aichi Prefecture. Bordered by Mikawa Bay in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the south, Toyohashi enjoys a relatively mild climate throughout the year.
Toyohashi is one of the leading horticultural production centers in Japan, boasting the nation’s largest shipment of cabbage and the largest production of shiso leaves in Japan. Because of this soil, Toyohashi tea is said to be “highly aromatic.
The origin of the tea is not known, but it seems that before World War II, there were several tea farmers in the Takashibara district in the center of Toyohashi City. In the 1950s, along with postwar reconstruction, the production of black tea became popular. Later, they began to produce sencha, leading to today’s Toyohashi tea. Another characteristic of Toyohashi tea is that the harvest season begins 3 to 4 days earlier than in Shizuoka because of the warmer climate.
Moved tea plantation from Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and cultivated the land from scratch
Suimeien Okamoto Tea, run by Hirotoshi, is located in Higashi-Hosoya, one of the five major tea production areas. The tea plantation, which covers an area of about 5 hectares, surrounds his house and produces several varieties of tea, ranging from early to late harvest: Ooi Wase, Kuritawase, Yaeho, Yutaka Midori, Saemidori, Tsuyu Hikari, Yabukita, Meiryo, Sayamakaori, Yamakai, and Okumidori. The reason for this is that the harvest period is 3 to 4 days. The reason for this is to ensure the distribution of high quality tea by harvesting tea leaves at the optimum time, which is said to be 3 to 4 days.
Originally, the tea plantation was located on the Makinohara Plateau, one of the most famous tea growing areas in Shizuoka Prefecture, but due to the effects of the Pacific War, the second generation moved to the current location. The land, which was empty at the time, was cleared and cultivated into a unique undulating terrain. The land was slightly sloped to improve drainage, and a “culvert drainage system” was installed to collect water from the ground and underground and channel it into a drainage canal. The result is a tea garden with excellent drainage and soft red soil, which is said to be suitable for tea cultivation, enabling the cultivation of high quality tea leaves.
Tea making starts with soil preparation
Okamoto-san, the fourth generation of the family, grew up watching tea picking from his childhood. Tea fields spread out around his house and tea factory. The family runs the business from the management of the tea plantation to production and packing. What I make can make people happy. Also, everything from the tea plantation to manufacturing is my responsibility. It was a natural progression for him to choose to become the successor after experiencing firsthand the dreams and rewards of the business.
Okamoto-san says, “The taste and aroma of tea depends on the soil. Soft soil is necessary for the roots of tea trees to grow thicker and deeper. However, when tea is picked by machine, the soil is inevitably hardened. Therefore, after picking the second tea leaves, Okamoto-san mows and returns them to the field even after the third tea leaves have sprouted. Generally, this tea can be sold as the third tea, but Okamoto-san wants to increase soil organisms and maintain the soil’s own strength by feeding the soil with organic matter as much as possible.
Cultivate multiple varieties for staggered picking times
The family business has its own difficulties. If there are overlapping harvest times, there is not enough labor, and the best time to harvest the tea leaves may be missed. Since it is difficult to harvest 5 hectares of tea plantations at once, the farmers plant early-ripening and late-ripening varieties to ensure that all teas are harvested at the right time. The teas picked at the right time “feel completely different to the touch, so comfortable that I want to keep touching them. They are so comfortable to the touch that I want to touch them all the time.
The difference of a few seconds in the tea making process is reflected in the taste.
The harvested tea is consolidated at a tea factory located near his home. They are immediately steamed and then cooled by a cooler. Time is of the essence, as freshly picked leaves are quickly oxidized if left unattended. In addition, the green color of the leaves must be maintained while removing any foul smell, and it is said that the length of steaming time determines the taste, aroma, and color of the water. The difference of a few seconds makes a big difference in the taste, so even the slightest carelessness is not tolerated in the steaming process.
Okamoto-san, who is in charge of everything from harvesting to production, spends a month or so during the tea-picking season, with no time to sleep. Even under such circumstances, he says, “I do this work because I love it, so it’s not hard at all. I want to make tea that I am satisfied with,” Okamoto-san smiles.
Store at 7°C to prevent condensation and oxidation
Okamoto Seicha, which is also involved in tea sales, stores products after tea production in a refrigerator in the factory. The temperature is set at 7 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is too cold, condensation may form when the tea is taken out of the refrigerator and returned to room temperature. Tea is damaged when it absorbs moisture, so we want to avoid condensation as much as possible. On the other hand, if the temperature is raised, oxidation will occur. The temperature at the very edge of avoiding condensation and oxidation is 7 degrees Celsius,” he said.
Three generations of parents and children received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award
Every year, “tea fairs” are held throughout Japan, where producers compete to see how well their teas perform that year. Experts with tea judging skills evaluate four items: the appearance of the tea leaves, the color of the tea, the aroma, and the taste. Okamoto Seicha has received the “Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award,” the highest award, from the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, for three generations of parents and children at both national and Aichi Prefecture tea fairs. The tea was especially recognized for its high aroma.
When asked what kind of tea Mr. Okamoto is aiming for, he replied, “Everyone has their own taste preferences,” and then added, “A tea that has a strong astringent taste typical of green tea, and that makes you feel a rush when you drink it. However, he said that it is not so easy to make green tea because it is a natural product. We can only try once a year, so we have to learn every year.
Working with his wife, he develops products that consumers demand.
In recent years, young people have been turning away from tea-leaf type teas. This is because brewing tea in a teapot is considered a hassle. Therefore, Mr. Okamoto has been working on the development of “powdered tea,” which can be brewed easily.
However, when powdered, it did not taste the same as tea brewed from tea leaves. Sometimes the color is not as beautiful as expected. The development of the product was a difficult process that involved changing the variety and trial and error in the process of making the powder. He actively adopted his wife’s opinion in the development process. Because she did not grow up as a tea farmer, she was able to fully reflect the viewpoint of an ordinary consumer. The result was powdered sencha, genmaicha, hojicha, and kocha teas.
The sales of the powdered teas allowed the company to discover a different customer base, and the company felt that it had a positive effect on the market. As a second step, the company began developing triangular tea bags, which are now sold through online stores and other channels. The new product is said to offer an easy way to enjoy a taste similar to that of leaf tea.
Our goal is to make teas that wholesalers nominate.
As the fourth generation, he is vigorously developing new products, but there are still many areas he would like to improve, such as efficiency and quality. As a family-run business, they plan to focus on countermeasures against delays in harvest time due to variety and weather conditions, as well as improving the quality of the tea trees themselves.
Although there are regions where the area under tea cultivation is expanding, nationwide tea production is on a downward trend. The amount of leaf tea consumed per household is also on the decline, and it must be said that the industry as a whole is shrinking. Despite the difficult situation, we would like to produce tea leaves with the utmost care so that our customers will say, “I want Okamoto Seicha’s tea. Mr. Hirotoshi, who loves tea and is dedicated to tea, continues to hold on to his aspirations.
