The Complete Guide To Isecha (Ise - tea)

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This article was last modified September 1, 2022 by Yuki

If you are an avid traveler of Japan, you may have heard of the Ise Grand Shrine. It's the most significant shrine in Japan, as it sits atop the hierarchy of all the shrines of Japan.

Outside of the shrine, you may not be too familiar with the Mie Prefecture, which is where the shrine sits. Although less known, they do play a massive part in tea production.

Let's jump into that in this article.

Isecha, the tea produced in Mie Prefecture, is one of the lesser-known tea producing giants of Japan.

Followed by Shizuoka-cha and Kagoshima-cha, Isecha boasts the 3rd largest green tea plantation areas, as well as the 3rd highest green tea outputs in Japan.

It even has the highest output of Kabuse-cha in Japan by far! Other types of tea they produce include the Sencha and the Fukamushi-Sencha.

Tea farms can be seen all around Mie prefecture, and the type of tea produced is diverse.

Under the Isecha brand, there are many sub-area brands as well. Major names include the Suizawa-cha, Suzuka-cha, Kameyama-cha, Odai-cha, Watarai-cha, Iinan-cha, and Koshika-cha.

Different areas have different geographical characteristics, resulting in different types of tea production depending on the area.

We can categorize Mie prefecture's tea plantations into two areas; the northern and the southern areas.

The northern tea plantation areas lie across the nature-rich geography of the Suzuka mountains.

This area is especially famous for producing Kabuse-cha, a tea with a unique cultivation method of shading the leaves approximately two weeks before harvesting.
They shade the leaves to hide the tea leaves from the sunlight, reducing the Catechin from developing in the tea leaves.
Since Catechin is a nutrient that increases the astringency of the tea, reducing it results in lower astringency and higher levels of umami, for the tea. It makes it a high-grade Japanese green tea.

Areas such as Yokkaichi and Kameyama are especially known for this Kabuse-cha. These areas are also known to only harvest the first and second harvesting session of the year.
(The tea taken in these sessions are called Ichibancha and Nibancha, respectively.)

The third and fourth harvesting sessions standard in other parts of Japan is not conducted here. This is to enhance the taste of the Ichibancha of the following year.

The southern side is also a nature-rich area that lies across the Daikou mountains.
Unlike the north, this area is more focused on the Sencha. Due to the heavy fog and the warm climates, it is known to produce high-quality teas here as well.

They are a regular winner of the prestigious "Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries award" in Japan's Annual National Tea Competition.

As the tea plantations spread across a large geographical area, the Ichibancha plucking timing varies. The earlier areas start harvesting for their Ichibancha from around late April, while others may start as late as mid may.

[reference]http://www.isecha.net/