The city of Uji in Kyoto has been famed for tea for more than eight centuries, but much has been lost in the depths of that time. Now a group of locals are working to revive Asahien, one of Uji’s seven famed tea farms of the past, with plants discovered on the grounds of a city temple.
Chance Encounter with Traces of Shichimeien
A few years ago, Matsubayashi Toshiyuki of Uji’s only pottery kiln, Asahiyaki, was walking along the approach to the temple Kōshōji, located behind his workplace. It was then that he noticed an old tea bush.
He was personally interested in tea growing and had studied under Horiguchi Ichiko, a researcher into natural and Chinese tea, so he consulted her about his discovery. The two excitedly agreed that such an old bush should produce potent tea, so they asked at the temple for permission to try making tea from its leaves…
