Kagoshima is the second largest tea producing region in Japan.
Kagoshima Green Tea History
There are several stories about how green tea cultivation took root in Kagoshima. The most agreed upon is that a Buddhist priest from the Kyoto area traveled to the hamlet of Yoshimatsu approximately 700 years ago to establish a temple, and thereupon cultivated the first camellia sinensis plant.
Later during the Edo Era (
Due to the broad, flat terrain of Kagoshima Prefecture, long perfectly-aligned rows of tea can be planted and then harvested by mechanical harvesting machines developed exclusively for this purpose. These unique high-volume harvesters are highly efficient and effective a very precise and even pluck of each tea leaf. Presently the Yabukita cultivar represents 41% of total tea production in Kagoshima compared to a national proportion of 76%.
Twenty eight percent of Kagoshima green tea comes from the Yutaka Midori cultivar followed by smaller amounts from the Sae Midori and Asatsuyu