d:matcha’s New Tencha Factory (Daiki T.) D:matcha is building its own Tencha processing factory in Yubune, Wazuka Town, aiming to have it ready for the spring 2025 harvest. Until summer 2024, D:matcha used its own sencha factory to produce sencha, hojicha, and gyokuro. For matcha, however, it relied on shared tencha processing facilities. At these shared facilities, D-matcha reserved production capacity in advance to ensure that only leaves from its own fields were processed exclusively, paying processing fees for the service. However, due to a growing number of farmers shifting from sencha t ..read more

Online Tea Tasting (Daiki T.) In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a time when the number of Tea Farm Tour and Tasting guests from abroad dropped to zero. It was during this time that we started the Online Tea Tasting program. We send five different types of sencha, categorized by tea variety and shading period, to each participant's home, and conduct a tasting session together via Zoom. Of course, the program does not just cover how to brew tea, but also provides as much knowledge as possible about how tea is made, the characteristics of Wazuka tea, and other related information ..read more

Rice Harvest Before the Big Typhoon ( Daiki T.) On August 24, 2024, we completed our fourth rice harvest. This year, the temperatures were unusually high, and compared to our usual harvest period in mid-September, we harvested much earlier. However, as this is our fourth year, I have become quite accustomed to working in the rice fields. As a result, we were able to harvest a significantly larger amount of rice—815 kg compared to 620 kg last year. The main reason for this increase was the successful planting. In the rice fields, if weeds dominate, they absorb a large amount of nutrients, dras ..read more

  Tea Business School (Daiki T.) In Summer 2024, we held our second batch of Tea Business School, welcoming two matcha café owners from Thailand and Kuwait. The inspiration for this course stemmed from the rapidly increasing global demand for matcha, which unfortunately has not been accompanied by a corresponding spread of knowledge about its quality, usage, and production methods. Through the Tea Farm Tour and Tea Tasting experiences we offer at our main store, I want to not only educate our visitors but also elevate the expertise of café owners. This, in turn, would help them educate ..read more

Inspiring New Leader in Japanese Agribusiness Firled (Daiki T.) Every year in late June, I give a lecture at my alma mater, Kyoto University, specifically in the Faculty of Agriculture, on the topic of making a career in the agriculture industry. This lecture is coordinated with my former academic advisor, Professor Tsujimura, and is part of a series requested by the Kyoto Prefectural Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. This year marks the fourth year of my involvement in this program. I graduated nearly 20 years ago. Among my classmates, very few are working in the field of a ..read more

Hand-picked Sencha Harvest at Harayama (by Daiki T.) | Watch The first harvest of 2024 took place at Harayama, the highest and most challenging slope of all d:matcha’s farms! Visitors who participated in our experience tours from 2017 to 2019 may recall visiting this field during their tour. Located at an elevation of over 400 metres, this site features tea fields planted not horizontally but vertically on steep slopes, making it an extremely labour-intensive location to work in.  However, much like with wine, the steepness of the slope causes the tea bushes to dig deep into their roots ..read more

Rice Planting  (by Daiki T.)  In the town of Wazuka, it's customary to plant rice in April, just as the tea harvesting season kicks into full gear. At d:matcha, we cultivate our own rice in the paddy fields in front of our main store. One of the most crucial aspects of rice cultivation is water management. Water levels can influence growth and suppress weeds, so it's essential to prepare the paddies carefully before planting. The quality of this work directly impacts the harvest and fieldwork duration. Recognizing this, d:matcha redeveloped the fields immediately, consolidating ..read more

About Theanine Theanine is a unique amino acid found in tea, synthesised only by tea plants and certain fungi in nature. It contributes to the umami taste in tea and is closely related to the quality of tea, as theanine content correlates with tea quality. Theanine also has relaxing and sleep-inducing effects when ingested orally. Therefore, when the same amount of caffeine is consumed through tea compared to coffee, the awakening effect of caffeine is counteracted by the relaxing effect of theanine, resulting in a milder awakening effect. Thus, theanine is an essential component in ensuring t ..read more

Changes in the Tea Fields During Winter (by Aka) The management of the tea fields throughout the year follows a sequence: first tea harvest, bancha cutting, second tea harvest, autumn bancha cutting, and then preparing for the first tea of the next year. Bancha cutting is a preparation to neatly trim the first and second tea. By cutting the surface layer of leaves and stems during bancha cutting, only the new shoots are harvested for the first and second tea, maintaining their quality. The autumn bancha cutting, performed after the second tea harvest, is essentially the same as bancha cutting ..read more

Winter Frost (by Aka) In winter, it's common to see tea fields covered in frost. This sight appears almost magical and beautiful as if the fields are clad in garments of ice. During the cold early mornings, the entire tea fields in Wazuka Town are often covered in frost, creating a beautiful winter landscape. However, such frost can sometimes adversely affect the tea. If frost occurs during spring, the young, tender buds in the initial growth stages of the first harvest may struggle to withstand this cold, reducing the quality and yield of the tea. In severe cases, harvesting becomes difficult ..read more