This week is the peak season of tea plucking on Makinohara upland.

Tea farmers operate plucking machines and carry bags filled with plucked tea leaves.

In this season, traffic jam often happens on the side lode of tea plantation as shown above.

We can see the difference in color of tea plant canopy. After plucking, the color of canopy changed to deeper green.

(Before)

(After)

Generally shading sunshine results in the deeper green color due to increase of chlorophyll. “Tencha”, ingredient of matcha and “Kabuse cha” are produced based on this mechanism.

A close up picture of the canopy of plucked tea plants. Tea farmers keep 1 or 2 new leaves on the canopy to make higher vigor of tea plants.

After plucking of 1st flush, some tea farmers conduct light or deep trimming.

At the center of this picture, we can look brown color because of branches and stems, indicating deep trimming was conducted. Deep trimming of canopy is conducted in order to arrange height of canopy and increase the vigor of tea plants.

Tea plantation blessed with sunshine.

At the time of sunset, tea sprouts on the canopy twinkle like golden feathers.

We can see tea sprouts waved by the wind. This makes me recall a famous scene in the film “My neighbor Totoro”, rice straws flowing with the wind derived from Cutbus running over the paddy fields.