Uji Gyokuro, Classic Representation of Japanese Green Tea

Steaming Tealeaves, photo by Kusakabe Kimbei, 1890’s

origin

Some historians may disagree with me and consider that the real origin of tea in Japan (1) should be Togano-o where tea seeds from China were planted by the Zen priest Eisai (aka Yousai) in the 1210’s (2), and where he also wrote the first book on tea in Japan “Health through Tea Drinking (Kissa-yojo-ki)” (3).

However, the tea he was producing was quite different from the sencha or the much more developed gyokuro we have today.

an imported culture taking on a local path of development

Tea Stele, dedicated to Eisai (Yousai), in Kennin-ji Temple, Kyoto.

The production of tea evolved continuously as cultural, economical and social conditions changed. By the 17th century, the loose leaf tea technology of Ming dynasty China, together with the literati culture took root in the Uji area, south of Kyoto, which had already been developed into a central location of tea and culture since Eisai’s time. In 1738, Sohen Nagatani, a local producer, developed the sencha process basing on the steaming that was used for tencha and the rolling that was one of the loose leaf forms. A century later gyokuro became known as a higher value form of sencha, produced exclusively in Uji. Concurrently, dramatic changes were going on in the country. The Meiji Modernization (4) spirit later reigned the whole of Japan and by 1884, when machines began to be invented for tea processing, traditional quality soon gave way to automation.

Today, very, very few producers make gyokuro the traditional way, even in Uji. The remaining few throughout the whole country charge a premium for it.

The one we are reviewing is a finer machine-made quality, the best one can get in the market without the need to exclusive or special channels, produced by one of the most reputable gardens in Uji.

footnotes

1. Tea had been brought from China much earlier during the 9th century and planted in various locations around Kyoto and Nara, but discontinued in the end of the same century until Eisai’s time.

2. Eisai studied in China and brought back to Japan the compressed form of tea that was popular in China in those days. The tea he discussed and produced was similar to the style used by most monks and the mass in China during the Song dynasty (10th to 13th century). This was later evolved in Japan into Tencha, the precursor of Matcha.

3. A more precise transliteration of the name of the book should be, “An Account of Nourishing Life Through Eating Tea”. The expression “to eat tea” was very much an influence of spoken Chinese in the east and southeast coastal regions of China at the time of Eisai (the proper romanization of the name should be Yousai, but we shall follow a convention that has been formed for so many decades), where Japanese maritime activities were frequent. Today, “to drink tea” is still expressed as “to eat tea” in some Japanese tea cafés and in the dialects of southern Fujian and northern Guangdong in China. This linguist topic, however, is beyond the realm of this site.

4. I have been trying to find a website for the reader to comprehend what Meiji Modernization really means with various perspectives. Some are either too biased or too superficial, while some are too sketchy or too deep. This is a relative quick reader with some alternative viewpoints: http://www.funfront.net/hist/japan/meiji2.htm