Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture, will be holding its first tea-picking tour in the fall, in order to secure the "tea pickers" who will be responsible for harvesting the city's specialty Uji tea. The aim is for participants to practice on an actual tea plantation and become immediately effective when the new tea leaves arrive next spring. Participants are currently being recruited.
Uji tea produced in Uji City is primarily tencha, the raw materials for matcha, and gyokuro. To ensure the tea leaves retain their umami flavor, they are grown in "Ohishita tea plantations," which block sunlight during the new bud stage. Harvesting by hand is essential to producing high-quality tea.
However, in recent years, with the aging of part-time tea pickers, a labor shortage has become an issue. While Uji City is working to secure more tea pickers, there have been concerns from residents that they might be worried about suddenly starting tea picking. In response, the city has decided to offer a casual tea-picking experience in the fall, away from the tea-picking season around May.
On the tour, participants will pick tea leaves at the tea plantation within the Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute (Shirakawa, Uji City), visit tea plantations in Uji City, and interact with producers. Participants will meet at Uji City Hall and travel by Uji City bus. The Agriculture, Forestry and Tea Industry Division says, "We want participants to experience the tea picking process and the atmosphere of a tea plantation."
The tour will be held over three days, September 22nd, September 30th, and October 9th, with a capacity of 15 people per day. Each day will be from 1:30pm to 4pm. In the event of rain, the tour will be postponed to a later date. Free of charge. Applications are open until August 29th, but will close once capacity is reached on a first-come, first-served basis. To apply, call the Agriculture, Forestry and Tea Industry Division at 0774 (20) 8723.
