The complete guide to Murakami-cha

Back to Area Brands of Japanese Tea

This article was last modified November 23rd, 2022. by Yuki

The Murakami-cha is known to be the "Northernmost Tea" of Japan.

Murakami City is the home to this tea, located in the upper part of Niigata Prefecture. The Niigata prefecture sits on the northern side of the main Honshu island of Japan. From a tea-plantation perspective, this is significantly north!

The latitudinal position of a tea plantation has significant implications. Warmer climates are better conducive to nurturing tea plants.
Niigata is extremely cold in the winter and will experience heavy snow during January or February.

Despite these conditions, Murakami-cha started around 1620 and currently has about 400 years of history of producing tea.

While not a large-scale tea producer, they have converted their disadvantages into advantages.

The long winters and the shorter sunshine hours contribute to reducing the astringency of the tea. You can enjoy a mellow-tasting green tea with Murakami-cha.

While it does market itself as the "Northernmost Tea of Japan," there are some tea farms even north of Murakami-city. Some plantations go up to the Iwate prefecture on the Pacific Ocean side of Honshu island.

Even on the Japan Sea side, there are other farms as well. It's just that these farms which produce tea are not businesses and build tea more for local or personal use.

The accurate articulation would be that Murakami-cha is the "Northernmost Tea of Business Scale in Japan on the Japan Sea Side."

Compared to other areas, the climate is not favorable to tea cultivation. Firstly, daylight time is shorter. Jan and Feb will see snow heavily covering the tea farms, and the tea plantations will turn white.

Understandably, under these conditions, the production volume is low. Murakami-cha only accounts for 1% of Japan's tea production, with only about 20 ha of tea farms (2013).

Murakami-cha is known for its low astringency and strong Umami. Interestingly, its unideal climate for scaling tea contributes to growing delicious quality tea.

The snow reduces the sunlight exposure of the tea, lowering the astringency of the tea. This is similar to how teas such as gyokuro or kabuse-cha are shaded to reduce astringency.

The tea leaves will accumulate nutrients through the cold winter under the snow, and the Umami and sweetness are said to be exceptional. It is enjoyed widely for this taste.

Ultimately, Murakami-cha successfully established a brand as the "northernmost tea plantation" in Japan.

Murakami-cha has a combination of unique varietals of tea trees, especially ones more tolerant to the cold. As a result, Murakami-cha tends to have different tastes than teas of other area brands.

Nowadays, popular and new breeds such as Yabukita, Fukumidori, and Tsuyuhikari are becoming more common as well.

The Ichibancha, the first flush leaves harvesting, is very late and happens around mid-May. Again this is due to the cold climate.

While Sencha is the primary produce, if you can go to the Murakami area, it would also be nice to try the Genmaicha.

Genmaicha is a tea that mixes brown rice kernels with green tea, and the quality of the rice is a huge determining factor for the tea.

The Niigata prefecture is famous for its fantastic rice. The Niigata Koshihikari rice perfectly complements the great-tasting Murakamicha in forming supreme Genmaicha.

The Murakami-cha has been around for a deceptively long time.

During the early Edo period, around 1620, Tokumitsuya Kakuzaemon is said to have bought and brought the tea seed to this area and developed it into a business.

In the Meiji Era, the plantations grew to 400 ha, and the tea business blossomed to even ship overseas, including New York and Vladivostok.

In Taisho Era, Murakami-cha vastly expanded. At its max, it was about 650 ha.

Since then, it has reduced its farmland and stands at only 20 ha, based on 2013 statistics.

Let's learn about the town of Murakami as well.

Murakami City is a historical Castle town of the Castle of Murakami.

This castle was of the Murakami Domain, a feudal domain under the Tokugawa Shogunate of the Edo period.

Murakami's water is famous for being one of the best in Japan.

It was chosen as one of Japan's "Selected 100 Exquisite and well-conserved waters" by the Ministry of Environment.

The quality of this water contributes to the great tea brewed.

If you have a chance to venture to the depths of Niigata prefecture, do try to find yourself a cup of nice warm Murakami-cha.

[reference]

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