Gyokuro and Tencha (Matcha) is shaded from sunlight for 20 to 30 days before harvest. There are two shading methods, JIKAGISE and TANA.

JIKAGISE shading is the method of covering tea leaves directly with a textile wrap called KANREISHA. TANA canopy is the method of building a canopy using the same type of special fabric used for JIKAGISE, along with iron pipes and other modern materials.

It is usually said that Gyokuro and Matcha tea leaves grown under the TANA canopy are of higher quality than tea leaves grown with JIKAGISE shading. However, the TANA canopy imposes much more strain on the tea trees than JIKAGISE shading, so that the tea trees under the TANA canopy need much more fertilizer. The tea farm using the TANA method can only harvest one crop of tea leaves each season, without a second crop.
Moreover, building the TANA canopy requires a significant early-stage investment (approximately one million JP Yen per 1,000 square meter / 1,308 sq yard aside from a half million JP Yen for KANREISHA), though the TANA canopy lasts for more than 30 years once built.
The TANA canopy can't easily be built on a hillside, though recently TANA canopies have come to be built on sloped land. Of course, JIKAGISE shading can easily be applied even on an incline.
In the case of JIKAGISE shading, farmers can flexibly switch their harvest from Sencha to Gyokuro, or vice versa, according to the climate, market rate, and so on.

It takes approximately 2 hours with 2 persons to cover the tea leaves with the JIKAGISE fabric and later to uncover the tea leaves for a 1,000 square meter / 1,308 sq yard tea farm. Farmers must uncover the tea leaves just before harvest (within 1 or 2 hours) in order to protect the bright green color and mellow taste of the tea. Otherwise, the yellow and bitter flavor would increase.

As above, the JIKAGISE shading method is a much smaller burden both for the tea trees and the farmers; it is highly flexible and efficient. Of course, well-managed tea leaves grown with JIKAGISE shading are often higher in quality than tea leaves grown under the TANA canopy.

The above pictures show scenes of organic tea farming in the mountains at 680meter (2,341ft) elevation. It is said that the mountains are more suitable for organic tea farming because there are less harmful insects due to the lower temperature than base or flat areas, less interference of pesticides from conventional tea farms because of the isolated geography, and so on. However, growing and harvesting tea in the mountains is very hard work. Please enjoy these photos of organic tea farming in the mountains.

Shincha (the first tea of the year) is harvested starting at the beginning of May in Kyoto. We are planning to sell some limited edition Shincha items only available this Shincha harvest season. Celebrate our first tea harvest of the year with Hibiki-an's Shincha and enjoy the remarkable fresh flavor, which can only be experienced once every year! Please wait and see!

All items below are limited edition of 1,200 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this spring harvest season. We have arranged various types of Shincha, which will be specially finished to enjoy Shincha's refreshing aroma and flavor. For more information regarding each item, please click on the links below. We hope you will enjoy the refreshing aroma and smooth flavor of each Shincha item!