Survival Strategies for Traditional Hand-Picked Tencha Production in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture
京都府宇治市における伝統的な手摘み碾茶生産の存続戦略
Summary
A geographic study of how Uji sustains traditional hand-picked tencha (matcha raw leaf) production as pickers age out and urbanization shrinks tea gardens, with growers, cooperatives and government scrambling to secure labor or switch to machine harvest.
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About this paper
Key findings
- Uji tencha area is shrinking due to urbanization and aging farmers
- Traditional shelf-and-shade-cloth covered cultivation with hand-picking still defines premium tencha
- Shortage of hand-pickers is pushing more farms to switch to machine harvesting
- Municipal government and producer cooperatives are running joint programs to recruit and retain pickers
Method: qualitative regional case study
Journal: CiNii (publisher not stated)
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