The National Cha Hinpyoukai

The 69th National Tea Competition of Japan Results (2015)

Here we'll look into the results of the 69th National Tea Competition of Japan. This tea competition was held between August 25th to August 28th of 2015. The event took place at Shizuoka City, Shizuoka. As a result of the competition, the following awards were given out.

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Individual Awards

Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Award - 8 winners
Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Secretary Award - 12 winners
Japan Tea Central Public Interest Incorporated Association Chairman Award - 8 winners
Japanese Association of Tea Production Award - 8 winners
National Tea Commerce and Industry's Association Award - 6 winners

Group Awards

Area Award 1st Place - 8 winners
Area Award 2nd Place - 8 winners
Area Award 3rd Place - 8 winners

The National Tea Competition of Japan is the most prestigious competition for Japanese green tea. Learn more about this competition here.

Below we will introduce the Area of the winners of each category. For the individual awards, the actual names of the winners are also announced. However, since the proper instruction on how to read the names are absent, I have left it out and instead decided to only introduce the Areas of the winners. If you would like to know the actual winners, please refer to the resource at the end of the page. (Japanese)

Results

Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Award - 8 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Fukuroi City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Kabuse-cha	Tsuzukigun Ujitawaracho Town, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Koyugun, Shintomicho Town	-
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Takachihocho Town, Miyazaki	-

Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Secretary Award - 12 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Branda
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Makinohara City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Kabuse-cha	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto *2 from Jyouyou city were awarded this award	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto *2 from Jyouyou city were awarded this award	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Koyugun Shintomicho Town, Miyazaki	-
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Gokasechou Town, Miyazaki	-

Japan Tea Central Public Interest Incorporated Association Chairman Award - 8 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	Kawane-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Makinohara City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Kabuse-cha	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	-
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Gokasechou Town, Miyazaki	-

Japanese Association of Tea Production Award - 8 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Makinohara City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Kabuse-cha	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	-
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Takachihochou Town, Miyazaki	-

National Tea Commerce and Industry's Association Award - 8 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Gokasecho Town, Miyazaki	-

Area Awards

Category	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Yame City, Fukuoka
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	*2 2nd place winners and no 3rd place winners this year.
Fukamushi-Sencha	Makinohara City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Fukuroi City, Shizuoka
Kabuse-cha	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ayabe City, Kyoto	Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Kyotanabe City, Kyoto	Fujieda City, Shizuoka
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Uji City, Kyoto	Kyotanabe City, Kyoto
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Koyugun Kawaminami Town, Miyazaki	Karatsu City, Saga
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Gokasechou Town, Miyazaki	Nishiusukigun Takachihocho Town, Miyazaki	Ureshino City, Saga

Summary by Chief Judge (Translation)

"

The 69th National Tea Competition was held between the 4 days of August 25th to 28th of 2015. This was held at Shizuoka City in Shizuoka Prefecture. 20 Judges gathered from all around Japan to evaluate 848 products across 17 prefectures, 7 tea types and 8 categories. The teas were carefully evaluated.

While this year's April climates initially saw heavy rain, subsequently the temperature had risen and as a result the Ichibancha came out a little earlier than usual years. No large weather disasters were seen, and the quality of tea wasn't bad either. However, the market saw a 15% drop of prices, and was extremely challenging. Despite such situation, the products listed in the competition were of good quality. I would like to pay tribute to the passion, efforts, and high skills of the producers.

Below are the summaries of the result of each category.

Futsu-Sencha 10kg

98 items from 9 prefectures including Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Shizuoka were evaluated.

This category is limited to machine picking. The high-ranking and middle-ranking products were of both great external visual score and internal quality score, and displayed high precision in their processes. The lower-ranking products showed some products with low freshness of the leaves, and there was a large quality drop compared to the high and middle-ranking products.

Futsu-Sencha 4kg

107 items from 15 prefectures including Shizuoka and Kagoshima were evaluated.

Overall, high quality products were found. The high ranking items were exceptional with good external visual score and internal quality score. The middle-ranking products were not too different in quality compared to the high-ranking products, and showed good products as well. The lower-ranking products showed several deductions and had a gap in quality as compared to the high and middle-ranking products.

Fukamushi-Sencha

123 items from 6 prefectures including Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Mie were evaluated.

The high-ranking products showed the yellow-green luster and rich umami which are characteristics of the Fukamishi-sencha. Some of the lower products' steaming were slightly weak, however the quality difference between the high-ranking products were small, and the overall quality of the products were high.

Kabuse-cha

102 items from across 7 prefectures including Kyoto, Mie, and Shizuoka were evaluated.

The high-ranking and middle-ranking items saw many products of good quality which displayed both the ooika aroma and the freshness, which are characteristics of the Kabuse-cha. Especially the high-ranking products were exceptional in quality. On the other hand, the lower ranking products lacked these characteristics of Kabuse-cha, and there was a drop-off in quality as compared to the high-ranking products.

Gyokuro

101 items from 4 prefectures including Fukuoka, Kyoto and Shizuoka were evaluated.

The external visual score and the internal quality score of both the high-ranking and middle-ranking products were of high quality with a small difference in quality. The ooika, the ooiaji, and the umami were mixed in harmony for many of the products. Also, an overall high level of skill in maximizing the characteristics of the breed was demonstrated.

Tencha

105 items from 6 prefectures, including Kyoto and Aichi were evaluated.

The overall quality was high. The color of the products were vivid and even throughout from the external visual perspective, while from the internal quality perspective the items showed sufficient shading and a classy aroma with rich taste.

Mushisei-Tamaryokucha

111 items from 5 prefectures - Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki were evaluated.

Overall the quality of the products were high, and the high efforts and passion from the areas were observed. From the high-ranking to middle-ranking products, there were many products which were difficult to rank one above another due to the high quality of the contesting items. They inherit the fresh aroma and strong umami which are a characteristic of the Mushisei-Tamaryokucha. Especially the high-ranking products were exceptional products which displayed a great aroma of the fresh buds. The lower ranking products showed damages of the leaves that happen during the plucking to the manufacturing processes. This implies the need for better adjustments during the hot weathers.

Kamairi-cha

101 items from 5 prefectures - Shizuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Miyazaki were evaluated.

The high-ranking products were of great quality and rounded well. They had the fresh young-bud aroma and the refreshing unique taste which are the characteristics of the Kamairi-cha. The middle-ranking products also showed the freshness of the kamairi-cha, but lacked the umami. The lower tea had deductions, and improvements from the harvesting to the manufacturing process was required.

Overall the quality was high and improvements in the manufacturing skills were evident.

[Resource]

https://www.ujicha.or.jp/wp/wp-content/themes/ujicha/pdf/69_hinpyou.pdf