Shiga

Tea Plantations in Shiga Prefecture

Green tea and rice in the Japanese countryside

Cathy Cawood Feb 22, 2015 - 1 min read

<p>Tea planted in rows along the foot of a cedar clad slope</p>

<p>These new shoots make really delicious tea!</p>

<p>Protecting the tea by shading it from the sun produces a milder, sweeter flavor</p>

<p>Woman in a wide hat a gloves picking tea</p>

<p>This manhole cover belongs to Shuumai, one of the areas that is part of Koka</p>

<p>Flooded rice fields ready for planting</p>

<p>Neat rows of tea bushes around a group of houses</p>

<p>Small temple with steeply pitched roof and graveyard behind</p>

<p>Another steep snow-proof roof nestled against a forested hill and overlooking long fields</p>

When I was cycling to Shigaraki, I came upon an area with many tea plantations. In May the tea plants had fresh young growth on the tips. In my opinion it makes the best green tea! I think picking the tips must be boring, painstaking work though. Sometimes the beautiful mounded rows of tea plants were growing right next to newly flooded rice fields. It was a truly Japanese countryside scene - rice and green tea!

Cathy Cawood @cathy.cawood

I came to Japan in 2003 to teach English. I lived in Shiga prefecture for 1 year, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I lived in Kyoto for 9 years, then moved to Machida, Tokyo in 2014 after meeting my Japanese partner. I love to take photos, and my Japan in Pictures Facebook page ha...