The Tea Region Built by Samurai

Cup of Japan’s purpose is to sustain the tea growing heritage & craft in Japan through direct and meaningful collaboration with the farmers. We recently had the pleasure of spending the day at MaruMaru farm, one of our closest partners. The MaruMaru family runs a relatively small field in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The story of tea cultivation in this region is quite unique: entering the Meiji era from Edo, many samurai abandoned their warrior life to become farmers introducing tea cultivation to the Makinohara Plateau. Kyouaki Nakajo, who was a member of the Shinsengumi group, put all his energy into cultivating tea and eventually built the foundations of what later became the renown "Shizuoka Makinohara Tea" famous for its rich aroma.

Yamamoto-san, the current owner of MaruMaru tea, is a 3rd generation tea grower and is building upon the families impressive 100+ year legacy. His moto is "Not ever a year resembles another, every day brings its own challenge"一度たりとも同じような年はなく、毎日が挑戦".

MaruMaru has developed techniques to achieve an extraordinary preservation of their soil quality ensuring a consistent taste whilst preserving distinctive "umami" flavors. MaruMaru has received awards for their teas, however they don't wish to boast and are simply honored that people around the world enjoy their product.

We currently have two teas from MaruMaru. One is made from the Saemidori cultivar which is called SAMURAI as a respectful nod to the regions warrior origins. The second is an incredibly unique tea grown using a special cultivar (Tsuyu-Hikari) - this is called AO (blue) to reflect its beautiful emerald hue. In addition to its colour, its taste offers a perfect balance and a hint of chestnut. 

We are proud to collaborate with MaruMaru & support his craft and we plan to launch another MaruMaru tea soon and a special set in the coming months.