Japanese Tea Farming Technological Innovation

Why has technology flourished in Japanese tea farms?

I’d like to think of tea as part of an experience. Perhaps part of the experience of waking up in the morning or enjoying a hot drink before going to bed or anything in between on an average day. It’s a small yet important part of my day. It’s such a small part of the day that I regularly overlook the processes necessary to bring the tea from a given farm to my cup. I’d like to think that farmers grow a given plant, pluck the tea leaves and send as much product as possible. Simplistic? Perhaps there’s a bit more than my initial thought. I want to walk through several technological innovations in the last number of decades that has helped shaped modern Japanese tea harvesting to provide a bit of perspective in the world of tea farming.

Looking back: How did Japanese farmers originally collect tea?

Tea bushes are central to tea production and they are, in fact, a tree. In Japan, traditionally speaking, tea bushes were established next to each other as if dots in a field of green. The reason behind this structure was to allow tea pickers to move between bushes to access what they could in a given season of harvest. However, tea bushes are no longer arranged this way, why? What changes have been made to fundamentally alter the way of harvesting tea?

Japanese women in early modern Japan were central to harvesting tea. They were hired to work dusk till dawn picking tea leaves during the harvest seasons. In the early 1920s, Japanese farmers moved from picking leaves to utilizing scissors to help speed up harvest and increase volume. The first tea scissors in Japan was patented in 1915 and helped restructure the physical layout of Japanese tea farms.

What has helped make Japanese farmers so successful?

Japan continued to invest in research and technology to continue improving its technological capabilities. This led to the first “mechanical” teach harvester in the 1960s which became readily available in the early 1970s. While this machine required two to operate, it was as if a ‘modded’ set of scissors and bags were formulated to collect tea .This early machine helped solidify the kinds of tea farm designs we know and see in Japan and the types of technology you’re likely to see during harvest. No longer are tea fields dots with tea bushes instead you’ll see rows of hedge-like tea bushes. This change has led to distinct advantages: Farmers are now able to ensure that tea bushes are stunted in growing upwards through regularly trimming. The bushes are also “melded” together to establish clear rows for harvest. It’s also helped keep technology a key factor in tea harvest in more mountainous areas.

What is it like to harvest Japanese tea?

Let’s take a step back and refocus on what you’re likely to see on an average Japanese tea farm in 2020. Imagine you’re on a Japanese farm in Shizuoka-ken: Green hedges growing on a mountain with a Japanese farmer ready to harvest his tea. You want to help but don’t know how. The current technology would require you, the Japanese farmer and the help of one more assistant. Standing in one row with the Japanese farmer in the row below you, the tea harvester moves with you along the top of the tea row. The assistant in tow helps lift the bag behind. You and the farmer move along the row of tea leaves slicing, dicing and collecting tea. This is helps tell the story of how far Japan has come in tea harvesting. But what other tools are available?

What else makes Japanese technology useful in harvests?

Another great example is a machine such as the Valiant Tea Harvester Model MCT-E. Perhaps one of the more unique pieces of technology out there, this machine has some notable similarities to what I’ve described above. This riding self-propelled tea harvester is more commonly used in flatter areas of Japan. It’s similar in many respects to the combine harvesters you may have seen in a Canadian or American wheat fields. The Model MCT-E however sits above 2 rows of tea and collects the tea as it drives by. While developed introduced in the late 1960s, the several-decades-worth of improvements has helped continued to push technology in not only tea harvesting but pruning as well.

It’s no surprise that Japanese tea farmers have continued to change the world of tea harvesting through technology. Part of this story is supported by the sheer innovation that has supported Japan generally in the last number of years however it’s also hard to miss Japanese tea farmers and their love for the product we are all able to enjoy throughout our days. Take a moment between sips and imagine you’re on that Shizuoka tea farm, how would you see yourself with and without that technology?

This article was originally published on T-Ching where I publish articles monthly.

Here is a video from International Virtual Tea Festival where I share some images and videos of our tea farm:

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