2025 July round up
Summary
Tea Nursery's July newsletter documents the busy summer harvest season across Japan, highlighting a growing trend of increased farming activity driven by rising tencha demand. The operation wrapped seasonal harvesting while documenting regional tea initiatives—from Awabancha processing in Tokushima to Zairai genetic research presentations at the Global Japanese Tea Association conferences in Kyoto and Tokyo. Heat stress on aging farmers and supply-chain dynamics underscore st…
Key points
- Summer tencha demand is accelerating farmer participation in off-season harvesting, shifting traditional production cale…
- Zairai landrace research using genetic markers could halve tea breeding cycles from 20–30 years to ~10–15 years, enablin…
- Kamikatsu (Tokushima) Awabancha hand-harvest and post-fermentation processing represents specialty folk-tea production g…
- Heat and labor intensity during summer harvest creating pressure on older farmers; rural revitalization projects now cen…
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About this article
What they said
“As the warm air arrives in early July, days get hotter and hotter, making tea farming or any outdoor activity really. This puts more pressure on an already hard and intense job, especially for many of the older farmers in our village.”
As the warm air arrives in early July, days get hotter and hotter, making tea farming or any outdoor activity really. This puts more pressure on an already hard and intense job, especially for many of the older farmers in our village.
“A trend fueled this year and possibly the ones to come by the demand for tencha.”
A trend fueled this year and possibly the ones to come by the demand for tencha.
“Being able to pinpoint those traits will allows making better decisions in the breeding programs. Furthermore, creating models based on that data together with genetic marking could shrink so much the process of that breeding process, which is usually 20–30 years to around half of that time.”
Being able to pinpoint those traits will allows making better decisions in the breeding programs. Furthermore, creating models based on that data together with genetic marking could shrink so much the process of that breeding process, which is usually 20–30 years to around half of that time.
The numbers
Tea breeding cycle reduction potential: 20–30 years to ~10–15 years
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