Gokou from Kyoto

The weekend before I visited Ujitawara, Japan experienced the heaviest snowfall of the 2025-2026 winter.

By the time I drove through the mountain roads of Ujitawara, most of the snow had melted under clear skies. But traces remained, quietly reminding me of nature’s intensity just days before.

Winter asks us to slow down. To reflect. In the stillness of the fields, I felt both calm and quiet strength, knowing that the tea trees are preparing for spring.

The Cultivar, Gokou

Our Gokou from Kyoto is produced by Koyamaen Seichajo in Ujitawara, Kyoto. This town is the birthplace of Sencha, the most widely consumed green tea in Japan. As the country’s one of the most historically significant tea regions, Ujitawara carries centuries of cultivation knowledge, shaping the character and depth of the teas grown here.

The farm is run by fourth-generation tea farmer Yoshinori Koyama-san, and his wife, Yukako-san.

Gokou is a cultivar selected in 1953 by the Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute from a native tea garden in Uji. It is highly regarded for its expressive aroma that unfolds instantly, a reason it is often chosen for competition-grade gyokuro. With its pronounced umami and rich, full-bodied Ooika (the signature aroma developed through shading), Gokou is also an exceptional cultivar for matcha, beautifully expressed in our newest launch Gokou from Kyoto.

Winter in the Fields

Though much of the snow had melted, some remained in the Unema, the space between tea rows.

I asked whether heavy snow harms the tea trees. For young trees, snow weight can bend branches. Mature trees, however, are resilient. In fact, this year’s snowfall was welcome. The winter has been very dry. In December and January, the soil was so parched that wind lifted dust from the fields. The snow helped restore some moisture.

“We hope for a little more rain”, Yoshinori-san said simply.

For tea cultivation, three elements are essential:

Water. Sunlight. Soil quality.

If one falls out of balance, the tea responds. Tea is never fully controlled. It is guided.

A Living Ecosystem

Fresh tracks crossed the soil. Perhaps deer or perhaps wild boar.

“The stride is short… I wonder which one it was.”

“It walked quite politely”, the Koyama couple smiled.

Since transitioning to organic cultivation, wildlife has returned to the fields. Insects, birds, animals… the ecosystem has grown richer.

During the three-year conversion period, fences were necessary to protect vulnerable baby tea trees. But today, the presence of wildlife feels different.

Nature, animals, tea, and Koyama-san.

A quiet coexistence.

The Decision to Go Organic

Originally, the farm practiced conventional cultivation. Yukako-san had long sensed that domestic tea demand was declining and that organic cultivation might be necessary for long-term sustainability. But the leap felt risky.

With pesticides, production is relatively stable and predictable.

Without them, the risks are real. Leaves can be eaten. Plants can fall ill. The entire harvest can fail.

Yet a single comment from a customer became the turning point. They committed fully. The transition took three years. During that time, income was almost nonexistent. The first year without pesticides, insects and disease devastated nearly the entire crop.

In order to support their living during the transition period, before beginning, they saved enough to survive those years. It was not an experiment, but a conviction.

Over time, as the ecosystem slowly rebuilt itself, something began to shift. Natural predators returned. Today, praying mantises and ladybugs move quietly through the fields as guardians, protecting the tea trees and restoring a balance that chemicals could never create.

Farming with Joy as the Axis

When asked what matters most in their tea production, Yoshinori-san answered:

“To be able to enjoy farming.”

If he enjoys the process, he can confidently deliver his tea. And he is no longer bound by someone else’s definition of what “good tea” should be.

Previously, their tea was primarily sold through the agricultural cooperative. Under the auction system, value was determined externally. Today, he works from his own axis.

Conventional cultivation required attentive intervention. Adjusting fertilizer ratios, responding to shifting weather patterns, and working within established frameworks. Yet climate cannot be fully predicted. The effort to manage every variable in an unpredictable environment gradually became exhausting.

Organic cultivation is not easier. It, too, demands discipline, attentiveness, and resilience. And often it carries greater risk. But the approach is different. When nature cannot be resisted, it is accepted rather than corrected. What can be done is done honestly and attentively.

In that shift, farming became more truthful to him. More his own.

Land, Roots, and Change

Along the mountainside, native tea trees still grow. As I step closer to the native tea trees, I noticed small tea plants growing quietly along the edge of the plantation, almost overlooked. I asked whether they had sprouted from scattered seeds. The answer was both yes and no. Some had grown naturally. Other were remnants of earlier cultivation, left behind when the road was widened to allow trucks to pass. Past and present overlap in the soil.

In their Samidori field planted in 2020, a section failed to thrive. Later they discovered rocks buried beneath the surface. Tea roots grow straight down about 2 meters deep. Without space below, growth above suffers.

The Reality of Climate Change

Over the past 5 years, climate shifts have become more pronounced. When the shop was built, summer required no air conditioning. The following year, it became essential. Growth in the fields has grown uneven. Some shoots rise quickly, others lag. Harvest timing becomes more complex.

This year’s harvest may be slightly lower, likely due to last summer’s extreme heat. Climate is not abstract here. It is visible in the leaves.

Reading the Field

Fertilization requires three core nutrients:

Nitrogen. Phosphorus. Potassium.

Ratios are adjusted according to soil condition. Harvest timing is checked every morning and weather forecasts are monitored. Temperature trends observed.

Sometimes rain arrives on what would have been the perfect harvest day. In those moments, experience decides. Harvest early, or wait? A single day can change the quality significantly. Tea cultivation is both science and intuition, rooted in continuous negotiation with nature.

A Philosophy Shaped by Voices

Koyamaen Seichajo has been built by the voices of its customers, and continues to be shaped by them.

“The journey has never been one of isolation, but of listening”, Koyama-san says.

In the tea salon.

In the fields.

In the land itself.

There is always a quiet attentiveness.

As the world of tea continues to evolve, they imagine what it may become. Yet they do not chase trends. They continue, day by day, to make tea carefully and sincerely, in harmony with this land and the principles they believe in.

What does it mean to grow tea suited to this place and its people? That question guides them still.

It is our sincere hope that many people will have the opportunity to taste this Gokou matcha and we feel truly honoured to share their stories with our community.

— Manae from Rebel Bunny