In Tenryu Village, at the southernmost tip of Nagano Prefecture, there are tea fields clinging to the mountain slopes which lie parallel to the Tenryu River. When there’s fog, tea fields seem to be floating in the sky. Below your eyes, the majestic view of Tenryu River. The views from each farmer’s tea field are breathtakingly beautiful beyond words.
The name of this area is Nakai Samurai（中井侍). As you may have already noticed, Samurai（侍) means a Japanese warrior. The farmers who consider themselves Samurai run small tea factories filled with their own unique attention to detail.
The mountain valley, with its large temperature differences between day and night and short hours of sunlight, is ideal for producing soft, high-quality leaves. In addition, the morning mist rising from the Tenryu River enhances the tea’s flavor.
Nakai Samurai tea
What is noteworthy about Nakai Samurai tea is that they use a shallow steaming method with shortened steaming time. As a result, it has a prominent sweetness and a refreshing taste that causes a craving for another cup of tea.
As for the color of brewed tea, it’s clear yellow-green.
After being brewed, the tea leaves beautifully return to their original shape and we can eat them as a kind of salad.
Honorably, tea products from the Nakai Samurai area regularly rank high in the green tea competition held annually within the Nagano prefecture. But unfortunately, they rarely hit the market. Because the product volume is small. Hand picking and “no pesticides or herbicides methods” allows quite limited scale of tea products. That is why the tea of Nakai Samurai is called “mysterious tea”.
Tea picking
Around May, when the fresh greenery is dazzling, tea picking in the Nakai Samurai district begins in earnest.
Along the “Nanamagari (literally means seven carves)” road, which winds its way up a steep slope, tea picking starts with the lowest, warmest fields and gradually ascends upward.
Surprisingly, they retain their hand-tea-picking culture and practices. You can see the skillful handling of tea pickers carefully selecting only the finest tea leaves.
The tea leaves picked through this careful handwork are processed at the region’s tea factory.
Let’s experience
We offer you a half-day activity of tea picking from June to September (the second harvest time).
First, take a deep breath of the fresh mountain and river air.
Then, enjoying the spectacular view overlooking the Tenryu River, you’ll head towards your destination, the tea fields, in a hiking mood.
The suggested flow of the activity is as mentioned below.
Tea picking
When you arrive at the tea fields, you’ll receive instruction from the tea farmers on how to pick the tea leaves. This advice is essential for picking tea efficiently without damaging the tea bushes. Be sure to listen carefully.
After that, you’ll begin picking the tea leaves. Let’s pick tea leaves in a relaxed atmosphere while savoring the fresh air. The tea farmers will offer various advice.
You’ll also have the opportunity to talk about a wide range of topics, from the history of tea and culture to tea farming management and even private life in Tenryu Village.
Enjoy a fun-filled moment of communication while experiencing the joys of hard work.
Lunch and Tea tasting
Let’s enjoy a picnic lunch in the tea field, overlooking the magnificent mountain and river view.
After lunch, a tea tasting competition will be held. You can actually distinguish the difference of tea taste produced in Nakaya farm.
In the photo, they are relaxing in the Treehouse built through the efforts of Taiki Shinoda.
Hand rolling of picked tea leaves
Let’s process the tea leaves through the method of hand-rolling which is used only for high quality tea.
(In June, tea is made using a hot plate at the Nakai Samurai meeting hall. At other times, a special burner is used to finish tea.)
The finished tea leaves are divided among the participants and given as souvenirs.
<Notes>
- By skipping lunch, the trip can be shortened to around two and a half hours.
- If there is still dew on the leaves because of rain etc., staff will use tea leaves that they have picked in advance.
- Please come dressed in appropriate clothing for picking tea leaves, such as long sleeves and long trousers. It is also useful to bring a raincoat to protect yourself against the dew.
Taiki Shinoda and Nakaya tea farm
Tea picking activity is mainly conducted in Nakaya tea farm managed by a young tea farmer Taiki Shinoda.
Taiki is a good photographer. Many of the photos used in this Website are offered by him (Please check his Instagram mentioned above).
However, he is above all a good tea farmer. All the tea leaves are hand-picked and no pesticides or herbicides are used.
By the way, Nakaya farm used to be the trade name of Shichirobei Hatano who is also known as a good singer of tea-picking songs. When Shichirobei grew old and was no longer able to work, a newcomer Taiki decided to take over his tea fields. As a young challenger, he also produces Japanese black tea using the tea trees handed over from Shichirobei.
Incidentally, Taiki is also a contributor to a charming Treehouse built on a Yuzu tree planted in the tea farm. When tea fields below Nakai Samurai Station were badly damaged by heavy rain, he raised funds to repair the sidewalk through crowdfunding and with the remaining funds, the Treehouse was built. From this treehouse, you can sip tea while admiring the beautiful view of Nakai Samurai.
If you are interested in this activity, don’t hesitate to contact us.
