The 2020 crop has landed!
The 2020 crop has landed!
The Watanabe family currently operates Hachimanjyu Yakushima Tea Garden as a certified organic tea farm, factory, and retail shop. The Tea Garden was originally started by Mankichi Watanabe and his friends, who dreamed of producing the best quality tea by utilizing Yakushima's unique and pristine environment. With its advantage of a warm geographical location in the southernmost part of Japan, Yakushima produces Japan’s earliest high quality shincha, sought after by tea enthusiasts throughout Japan.
Due to its isolation from the rest of Japan and the lack of other farms in the area there is no risk of pesticide runoff from other farmers. In 2001, the Hachimanjyu Yakushima Tea Garden, including the entire tea farm and tea manufacturing facility, received the JAS organic certification. Their farming method is environmentally conscious and suits the island designated as the world natural heritage site.
Yakushima Island, belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, is located 135km south of the Osumi Peninsula of Kagoshima. In 1993, about 21% of the island was designated a UNESCO World (Natural) Heritage Site.
With its heavy precipitation throughout the year (often said that it rains 35 days a month), 90% of the island is covered in forest, with unique vegetation. Japanese cedar trees in this forest are often more than 1,000 years old and called ‘Yakusugi’. In the Yakusugi forest lies one of the world’s oldest trees, the Jomon Sugi, estimated to be between 2170 – 7200 years old.
The highest elevation on the island is Miyanouradake, the highest mountain on Yakushima as well as in the entire Kyushu region. Rich in nature with mountains, beaches, and even onsen hot springs, Yakushima attracts many visitors; but the island is especially popular due to the influence of an animation ‘Princess Mononoke’ by Miyazaki Hayao, in which the setting is said to be modeled after this island.
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