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  Obuku, where is located in mountain ravines.

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  Obuku is the first place where tea trees were planted in Uji region of Japan.

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  Everyone is very happy, because we can savor the joy of the harvest.

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  Sencha grown in Obuku area was presented to the Japanese Emperors for many years.

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  Tea leaves are carefully picked one by one.

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  Handpicking is a scene that has remained unchanged for a long time.

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  Sencha Pinnacle and Sencha Super Premium, which are grown at Obuku area and specially picked by skilled hands.

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  Shincha tea leaves are very soft

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  Hand picking ladies are very busy during harvesting season.

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  Resting in the shade.

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  It is very peaceful and soothing to spend hours outside hearing children's playful laughs.

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  Chatting is part of the fun of break time.

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  Young tea sprouts are gathered into big bamboo cages.

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  Gathering tea leaves picked by each.

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  Tea leaves are loaded onto trucks for transport.

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  Tea sprouts, which will be picked very soon.

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  Obuku area is surrounded by rich nature, which is an ideal place for Japanese green tea to grow.

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  Various creatures become active during Shincha season.

Now is the time for the Shincha (Sencha) harvest that we have all been waiting for! Shincha harvest started in the Uji region some days ago.

Obuku, where is located in mountain ravines, is the first place where tea trees were planted in the Uji region of Japan. Sencha produced in the Obuku area was presented to the Japanese Emperors for many years.

Today most tea leaves are trimmed by machine and traditional hand picked Sencha is rarely grown and is therefore very precious. The flavor and aroma of hand picked Sencha is much more mellow and refreshing than tea trimmed by machine.

One of the difficult aspects of the hand pick harvest is to assemble the team who will pick the tea. The farmer must decide the harvest date a week before at least due to the issue. Rain dew can ruin the harvested tea sprouts, so tea harvests are unable to be done during and after rain. Besides, this season's weather is quite uncertain. And it is said that tea leaves grow one sprout every four days during this season, and the best harvest timing is when three or four new sprouts appear. If too early, the harvest yield would be low, and if too late, the tea quality would be low. The ideal hand pick Sencha harvest date is just a few days every year.
To decide the harvest date, the farmer carefully checks the growth of the tea sprouts, weather forecast, and the temperature changes from the past few years.

Even a skilled tea harvester can hand pick just up to 6 to 8kg of fresh tea leaves all through the day. The picked fresh tea leaves are processed and finished, at which point the total weight of the tea leaves is only about 18% of the fresh tea leaves. Even if about 20 skilled tea harvesters pick all through the day, we can only gather around 25 kg of finished precious hand picked Sencha. From the time the sprouts appear to the time the leaves become too large to harvest is just a few days. So tea leaves for Shincha (Sencha) must be harvested as quickly as possible in one long stretch. Therefore it is never easy to pick large amounts of tea leaves by skilled hands in just a few days.

Top grade tea, hand picked Sencha is grown only in quite a small amount, because there is only one small place in all of the world perfect for farming this special tea - a tiny area of land located right here in the Uji region of Japan. Therefore, hand picked Sencha is very precious.

At last, we can celebrate the first tea harvest of the year with Shincha and enjoy its wonderful fresh flavor!
(The tea leaves for our Sencha Pinnacle and Sencha Super Premium are grown in the Obuku area, the birth place of Uji tea, and picked by skilled hands.)

Started the Pre-order Sale of Shincha Teas!

The harvest of Shincha (the first tea of the year) is just around the corner! We, at Hibiki-an, started to accept pre-orders of Shincha.
We have been arranging four limited edition Shincha items and three regular Sencha items with especially enjoyable Shincha flavor for pre-order sales as described below. We anticipate that each item will be shipped in order of precedence as soon as it is harvested. To pre-order, please go through the usual order process. 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!

Limited edition Shincha items

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!

[Limited] Shincha Traditional (80g/2.82oz): US$25.00 (Now Pre-orders Taken)
These tea leaves are finished in the traditional Uji/Kyoto style. Therefore the astringent refreshing aroma and mellow flavor are prominent, and the harmony is excellent...

[Limited] Shincha AOTE (80g/2.82oz): US$23.00 (Now Pre-orders Taken)
With Shincha AOTE, the astringent refreshing aroma and bitter taste is moderated, the tea color is greener, and the taste is mellower...

[Limited] Shincha Fukamushi (80g/2.82oz): US$21.00 (Now Pre-orders Taken)
Saemidori breed brings us pleasure in the springtime, to consider the unique flavor and early-ripening. Enjoy the sweet and smooth taste unique to this tea, as well as the fresh aroma...

[Limited] Farmers' Shincha (160g/5.64oz): US$25.00 (Now Pre-orders Taken)
Enjoy the natural taste and refreshing aroma of this "Aracha" Shincha at an affordable price. "Aracha" is unprocessed tea that Japanese farmers have been enjoying for centuries...

Regular Sencha items with especially enjoyable Shincha flavor

For pre-orders, we chose three regular items especially recommended to enjoy Shincha's remarkable refreshing aroma and fresh and smooth flavor!

[Shincha!] Sencha Pinnacle (40g/1.41oz): US$28.00 (Now Available)
Sencha Pinnacle, which is the highest quality Sencha produced in Japan, is the same type of tea which has been presented to the Japanese emperor for many years. This tea is grown at the same tea farm with tea that had been presented to the Japanese Emperor, and harvested in the same way, picked by skilled hands...

[Shincha!] Sencha Super Premium (40g/1.41oz): US$21.00 (Now Available)
This tea is grown at the same tea farm with tea that had been presented to the Japanese Emperor for many hundreds of years, and harvested in the same way, picked by skilled hands. With this special tea, you can enjoy the same Shincha flavor enjoyed by Japanese Emperors...

[Shincha!] Organic Sencha Premium (100g/3.53oz): US$25.00 (Now Available)
Organic Sencha's harvest generally starts 7 to 10 days later than conventional grown Sencha. The feature of the flavor is very simple and traditional. We imagine that the Shincha flavor enjoyed hundreds of years ago in historical Japan was just like this. Would you enjoy the simple Shincha flavor that was enjoyed long, long ago?...