Tea production area: Nara City, Yamazoe Village, Uda City, Oyodo Town, Higashi Yoshino Village
Brand name of tea: Tanba tea, Tanba Sasayama tea, Senrei tea, Boshi tea, etc.Yamato tea, Tukigase tea, Yamazoe tea, etc.
Types of tea: Sencha (steamed green tea), matcha, gyokuro, kukicha, hojicha (roasted green tea), black tea, flavored tea, etc.

Yamato tea and the Yamato highlands
Tea is cultivated on the Yamato highlands at an altitude of 200 to 500 meters. The tea is called Yamato tea, but there is also a local brand by the name of Tukigase tea and Yamazoe tea.

Yamazoe tea (October 2018)

Solitary Japanese cedar and
tea fields in Yamazoe Village (October 2018)

The beginning of Yamato tea and the Kukai’s stone mill
It is believed that the Butsuryu-ji Temple (佛隆寺) in Uda City is the birthplace of Yamato tea.
Kobodaishi Kukai (弘法大師空海) (774-835) was a Buddhism monk who studied Buddhism in Tang (China). When he returned to Japan in 806, he brought back tea seeds with him. He then gave some of the tea seeds to Kennne (堅恵) who was his disciple.
Kennne planted the tea seeds in the Butsuryu-ji Temple, Uda City.
There is a stone mill in the temple and tradition says that Kukai also brought the stone mill back with him from Tang (China).
The temple serves matcha and Japanese confectionary to visitors (not free).

Butsuryu-ji Temple (April 2019)

A stone monument of “Traditional birthplace of Yamato tea” at the Butsuryu-ji Temple (April 2019)

The stone mill which traditionally has been said that Kukai brought back with him from Tang (China)

Matcha and Japanese confectionery at the Butsuryu-ji Temple (April 2019)

Yamato tea porridge (大和茶粥 Yamato Chagayu)
Chagayu is a tea rice porridge. It is a local dish and has been eaten for many years in Nara and Wakayama Prefectures. The method for cooking it is by putting rice into boiled hojicha (roasted green tea) and cooking until the rice becomes soft.
You can eat chagayu in hotels, restaurants, or cafes in Nara City.

Yamato chagayu at 味亭山崎屋 (April 2019)

A restaurant of 味亭山崎屋 which was closed in June 2020. Only the souvenir shop is open as of February 2021.

Tea mascot Yuru-Chara: たけまるくん(生駒市)
Ceramic and pottery art: Akahada ware

Reference:
松下智 (平成3年) 日本名茶紀行 (初版) 雄山閣出版
高野實・谷本陽蔵・富田勲・中川致之・岩浅潔・寺本益英・山田新市 (2005) 緑茶の事典 (改訂3版) 柴田書店
大森正司、阿南豊正、伊勢村護、加藤みゆき、滝口明子、中村羊一郎編(2017) 茶の事典 初版第一刷 朝倉書店
山添村観光協会 https://yamazoekanko.jp

*When visiting the shops and facilities introduced in this article, please check the business hours on their website, etc. before visiting.
*The information provided on this site may be updated. If you find any information in this article that is incorrect, new, or incomplete, please contact CHAMART.
*The site does not describe all “Teas of Japan” or all “Teas of the World”. Additionally, each article expresses the writer’s personal experience and feelings.

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