Worked on the first tea crop (Arai Tencha Factory)

I started working part-time at the Arai Tencha factory in the town of Ujitawara in the fall of 2024. This was the first time I spent the first tea season at the Tencha factory.

I have a long experience in tea manufacturing factories, but it has always been in rubbed tea factories, so-called sencha and gyokuro making factories. With the recent matcha boom, I wanted to know how tencha, the raw material for matcha, is made, and it was a quick way for me to help out.

There are also various varieties of tea leaves used as raw materials and

There are many things to notice again, such as differences in the way they are covered and picked.

The work itself is light work, but I spent many enjoyable days seeing various parts of the manufacturing process.

I will continue to learn the key to making good tea even with tencha!