[Marketing Seed 160: Japanese Effort and Brand Power Seen in Tea Making (2)]
What deeply moved me again in the Japanese tea manufacturing process is the value of the “effort” unsparingly poured in by the artisans. For example, just one week before the harvest, a delicate task called “trash blowing” is performed in the tea gardens. They carefully blow away fine dust and fallen leaves accumulated on the tea leaves with a blower, a preparation to protect the quality of the finished product.
Thinking that the accumulation of such invisible processes leads to the transparency and deep aroma of a cup of tea somehow made my heart warm (；ᴗ；) What left an even stronger impression was the presence of shading nets. By blocking 80% of the light, the tea leaves desperately absorb the limited light, producing an excess of chlorophyll. The result is that vivid green and a mellow, rich umami. Rather than leaving it entirely to nature, people “design the environment itself” to elevate the quality.
Here, I felt the underlying strength of Japanese agriculture and the source of its brand power. And we must not forget the labor burden during the harvest season. Just preparing a 200-square-meter tea garden consumes a whole day. For a harvest that happens only once a year, they secure temporary manpower and watch the weather to not miss the optimal timing.
A farmer told me, “Even a single delay means a whole year goes to waste,” and that tension naturally made me sit up straight. The reason Japanese tea continues to be evaluated as “high quality” in the global market is by no means a coincidence. A culture that spares no effort, an attitude of facing nature, and an attention to detail. Walking around the site, it becomes clear that all of this is condensed into a single tea leaf.
(To be continued)
Related Article: BBC “Who drank all the matcha? How tourism drained a Japanese town”
~ Seeds of Marketing #68