There is something about the journey to Shizuoka by Shinkansen that never quite loses its sense of wonder. No matter how many times I take that route, I still find myself, booking a window seat, hoping for a clear view of Mt. Fuji rising quietly yet powerfully in the distance. This time, he remained hidden behind a thick layer of cloud. And still, returning to Shizuoka felt familiar, almost like greeting an old presence, even without seeing him.
Perhaps that feeling is part of what makes tea origins stay with me. Not only the tea itself, but the landscape, the people, and the values that quietly shape it long before it ever reaches the bowl.
A Tea Company Rooted in Soil
This visit brought me back to Yamazaki-san of Yamaei, the producer of our Okumidori from Shizuoka. Their dedication to tea, in many ways, began not with tea itself, but with the soil beneath it.
Long before Yamaei became a tea producer, its work was already rooted in the principles that make good tea possible. Founded in 1927 through fertilizer trading, the company built its early expertise around soil, cultivation and the unseen conditions that shape agricultural quality. Over time, that relationship with the land evolved naturally into tea production. Rather than arriving at tea from a purely commercial perspective, Yamaei came to it through a much deeper understanding of what supports the leaf before it is ever harvested.
The Connection Between Soil and Tea
The iconic Japanese kanji letter “茶 (meaning tea)” / The Japanese pampas grass for the Chagusaba method
Before tea becomes aroma, flavour, or colour in a cup, it begins much more quietly. The quality of tea is deeply influenced by the condition of the soil in which it is grown, and for the team at Yamaei, that understanding has shaped their work for decades. This philosophy lives within their independently developed SADAJI farming method, an approach that focuses on drawing out the natural vitality of the soil through the activity of microorganisms. The goal is not simply to grow tea efficiently, but to create a cultivation environment that remains in balance with the surrounding ecosystem.
By working with nature in this way, the soil itself becomes the foundation for producing tea with both depth and integrity. This way of thinking does not exist in isolation, but reflects a wider agricultural culture that has shaped tea growing in Shizuoka for generations.
Across this region, a traditional practice known as the Chagusaba Farming Method has been sustained over generations as a way of cultivating high-quality tea. By spreading cut grasses between the rows of tea plants, the soil is gradually enriched, helping retain moisture, regulate temperature and restore nutrients over time.
To support this practice, surrounding grasslands are carefully maintained as part of the cultivation process. These areas, referred to as chagusaba（茶草場), are not only functional, but ecological in nature. They create habitats for a wide range of plant and animal life, including species that are now becoming increasingly scarce across Japan, such as the Japanese meadow lily and ominaeshi, alongside regional species native to Shizuoka, such as Kakegawa fuki grasshopper. Recognised for both its agricultural significance and the biodiversity it helps sustain, this traditional Chagusaba Farming Method was designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in 2013.
Care That Continues Beyond the Field
They use the automated rack system to ensure traceability / their own microbiological testing lab for safety and quality control
That sense of responsibility continues beyond cultivation and into production itself. At its processing facility, Yamaei has also played an active role in raising standards within the tea industry, including through the early adaptation of regional HACCP initiatives. Today the facility is equipped to meet international expectations for both quality and safety, while remaining rooted in the same discipline and care that define its approach to tea.
What It Means to Make Tea in This Moment
When speaking with producers these days, one topic inevitably finds its way into conversation. The matcha boom.
The surge in global demand throughout 2025 was something the tea industry will likely remember for a long time. In many ways, it felt historic. Even now, that momentum has hardly faded.
It is something I often ask producers about, not only what they think of it commercially, but how they are experiencing it personally, from within the industry itself.
For Yamazaki-san, it represents both opportunity and pressure. For many years, Shizuoka Prefecture was Japan’s leading producer of aracha (crude tea), until Kagoshima overtook it in 2024. But beyond shifts in production volume, the tea industry has been facing a much deeper issue for some time. The shortage of successors.
Shizuoka is no exception. With many farmers now at an advanced age, and with tea fields often located in mountainous areas, continuing production is far from easy.
Tea is deeply rooted in history and tradition. And because of that, changing methods, mindsets, or systems that have been carried on for decades does not happen easily. Yamazaki-san understands that difficulty well.
At the same time, he believes that if tea is to carry forward into the next generation, the industry must also learn how to adapt to society as it changes, and to do so with openness and speed.
Protecting What Matters, While Still Moving Forward
Harusato Yamazaki-san, the President of Yamaei
With so much attention now on matcha, Yamazaki-san does see the current moment as an opportunity. But he does not believe the answer is simply to change everything for the sake of demand.
Rather, he feels it is important to respond honestly to the realities of modern society, and to do so with both flexibility and intention. In that sense, adaptation is not the opposite of preservation. It may, in fact, be one of the ways Japanese tea can continue to be protected and carried forward.
That balance is not a simple one. There is a constant tension between honouring tradition and embracing new ways for tea to exist, be appreciated, and find meaning in people’s lives. But rather than resisting that tension, Yamazaki-san seems to move through it with openness, without fear of newness, and with a clear sense of what should remain unchanged.
And perhaps that is what matters most. At a time when so much is shifting so quickly, he feels strongly that protecting the true nature of Japanese tea is more important than ever, not by resisting change entirely, but by making sure its essence is not lost within it.
The Difficulty, and Importance, of Translation
The tea plantation view from Awagatake (532m point)
Yamazaki-san holds a 6-dan qualification in the National Tea Quality Judging Skills Competition, a distinction that reflects years of disciplined sensory training and intimate familiarity with tea.
And yet, even with that level of expertise, Yamazaki-san also recognises how difficult it can be to translate tea into the kind of tasting language often used in international markets.
At Rebel Bunny, we often describe matcha through sensory references that may feel more familiar to international audiences. Foods, flowers, or textures that a tea may call to mind. For this Okumidori from Shizuoka, for example, we describe the profile through notes of wild strawberry, apple blossom, and pine nuts.
This kind of language is not traditionally how tea has been expressed in Japan, not only among consumers, but often within the industry as well.
And if I am being completely honest, there are moments when I pause and ask myself whether this is truly the best way to introduce a matcha with the respect and care it deserves. But perhaps, what matters most is not the exact vocabulary we use, but the sincerity behind it.
At the heart of it, both Yamazaki-san’s hope and our own remain the same: to share truly delicious Japanese tea in a way that allows more people to meaningfully connect with it. For those already interested in tea, we hope it invites a deeper exploration of Japanese tea and the people behind it. And for those just beginning, we hope it offers a thoughtful entrance into that world.
Because behind every bowl, there is always more than flavour.
There is land. There is labour. There is philosophy. There are people who have spent years learning how to notice what most of us would otherwise miss.
What matters most to us is staying close to origin, not only in where we source, but in how we listen, learn, and build relationships over time. More than simply sharing what is in the bowl, our hope is to carry forward the care, stories, and sense of place behind it with the respect they deserve, and we are excited to continue sharing more of their teas in the years to come.
