Hasegawa-san from Shizuoka: our matcha and its story

Yoshiaki Hasegawa has been growing his own tea for over 60 years. Since 1979, he has had his own small tea farm in Hamakita in the famous province of Shizuoka. Shizuoka is the most economically important region in Japan for green tea. Some of the best and most renowned green teas come from here. However, Mr. Hasegawa does not belong to a large corporation or give his tea to other companies for blending - he produces tea primarily for local customers. For this reason, he also deliberately avoids the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.

Mr. Hasegawa markets the majority of his tea himself directly on site. This is more costly for him than simply selling his entire harvest at auction. However, he can make better profits for his teas this way. Only a small part of his harvest is exported to us. In our store his tea is exclusively available for you.

Mr. Hasegawa, like many Japanese tea farmers, produces not only one type of green tea. In addition to tencha, from which matcha is made, he grows 煎茶 (sencha) and even 紅茶(koucha), the Japanese black tea.

About his philosophy and his attitude to the cultivation of green tea, he tells in the video below. Just take a look...