Yamecha (八女茶)
Located in the north of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's three main islands, Fukuoka Prefecture and specifically the region around Yame City is home to Japan's famed yamecha (八女茶; tea from Yame). With 3% of the country's total green tea production, Fukuoka produces a full 45% of the total amount of shaded gyokuro - including the highly revered and coveted Dentou Hon Gyokuro. Only the finest of Yame's premium shaded teas, made using special traditional methods and fully shaded with rice straw (tana honzu technique), are allowed to hold this title. This unique focus on quality and shaded teas makes yamecha one of the most expensive green teas in Japan and is due, in addition to centuries of tradition in tea cultivation, to the almost ideal geographical conditions of the region.
The Tsukushi Plain and especially the basins of the two main Yame rivers, the Yabe and the Chikugo, are often shrouded in dense fog, especially in the morning, which provides natural protection from sunlight and stimulates the teas to form a particularly large number of umami-intensive amino acids. Teas made in Yame are therefore often referred to as "natural gyokuros" and can become particularly intense. While the rivers bring not only the pure mountain spring water but also cool and humid air into the terroir, the strong and stimulating climate with hot days and cold nights results in a cool mist and even snow-covered tea bushes in the winter. Additionally, the area around Yame receives plenty of rainfall (up to 2,400mm annually) and combined with the loose, sediment-rich soils, this ensures that the tea fields, which are mostly located on mountain slopes, are constantly washed. The climatic conditions and nutrient-rich soils make the plants particularly resistant and contribute to their unmistakable, full-bodied aroma.
In addition to yabukita (77%), the full-bodied sencha cultivar kanayamidori (4%), the southern cultivars okumidori (4%), saemidori (4%) and the noble yamakai (2%), which are popular for gyokuro and kabuse, are particularly common in this area. Rare gourmet cultivars such as samidori, okuyutaka, gokou and asatsuyu can also be found here.
The historical origin of yamecha dates back to 1423 and the work of zen master Shuzui who, following a stay in China, brought to Japan the cultivation and processing methods of tea in the Ming style, in which the tea is roasted in a pot. It was not until the Edo period in the mid-19th century that the Uji method of tea production, which involves steaming and shading, gradually began to gain acceptance and the first senchas were produced, albeit in small quantities and as luxury goods. This was followed by a gradual modernisation of tea production and the slow establishment of an industry for teas from the different regions of Fukuoka, which were officially grouped together under the name yamecha in 1925 to emphasise the special quality of the roasted and steamed green teas.
Today, Yame is considered one of the leading tea regions in Japan, along with Uji, and consistently receives the highest honours in the country's most prestigious tea competitions. For example, yamecha consistently won the prestigious MAFF Award for Gyokuro from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2001 to 2012, and received the same award in the Sencha category from 2014 to 2019. Teas from Kuroki-Cho, Kamiyou-Cho and last but not least Hoshino Mura, the famous mountain village whose name is familiar to every gyokuro lover, are frequently awarded and are thefore coveted.
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