Green tea plants aren’t an uncommon sight in some parts of Tokyo, and in nearby Saitama Prefecture, there is an absolute abundance of them. Disappointingly though, they don’t appear to have any scent. Or at least none that I’ve ever noticed.
However, passing a tea field during what was presumably the year’s first harvest (or ichiban cha), made for a completely different experience altogether. For starters, the machine in use was a fairly interesting looking contraption, but it was still nowhere near as surprising as the fragrance from the just-cut leaves. A smell that was really quite startling — one of incredible, mentally still reproducible, freshness.
Carrie says
Interesting. Not how I imagined a tea field.
Green tea was an acquired taste for me, but gotta be honest, I still prefer coffee!
Lee says
Same story for me really, but after smelling the freshly cut leaves, I wanted to drink green tea. Immediately!
NihonBurp says
Quite interesting how in Japan older people are still employed quite regularly. Over in the UK it seems as soon as people get close to retirement age they disappear from the job market. As ever lovely picture
Lee says
Thanks! Yeah, the age of some farm workers I see is staggering. Presumably they have been farmers all their lives, but still…
paul schuster says
is that a gasoline powered harvesting device? any fumes along w/ that tea scent?
Lee says
Pretty sure it was, but luckily I got the scent from the bag of freshly cut leaves that they left at the end of each row, which were thankfully free of any fumes.
Tom O. says
Hey Lee.
I heard that there was some radiation detected on a field of tea down in Kanagawa near Yokohama. Do you know if any was found in Saitama? My family lives in Saitama so I’m just wondering.
Thanks!
Lee says
Not as I know of Tom. At least not yet. And if there is, hopefully it’ll be well with the safety levels.
Troy Worman says
This is certainly not what I imagined a green tea field to look like. But now I am curious.