The National Cha Hinpyoukai

The 72nd National Tea Competition of Japan Results (2018)

These are the results of The 72nd National Tea Competition of Japan (2018), which was held in Shizuoka city of Shizuoka. The following awards were given out as a result of the competition.

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

Group Awards

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

The competition 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	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Tsuzukigun Ujitawara Town, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Higashisonogi-gun, Nagasaki	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Nobeoka City, Miyazaki	-

Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Secretary Award - 12 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka * 2 winners in Kakegawa City for this award	Kakegawa-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka * 2 winners in Kakegawa City for this award	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Ayabe City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Higashisonogi-gun, Nagasaki * 2 winners in Higashisonogigun for this award	Ureshino-cha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Higashisonogi-gun, Nagasaki * 2 winners in Higashisonogigun for this award	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusugun Hinokage 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	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Kakegawa	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Nobeoka City, Miyazaki

Japanese Association of Tea Production Award - 9 winners

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Haibaragun Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	Kawane-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Ayabe City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Higashisonogi-gun, Nagasaki	Ureshino-cha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha

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

Category	Winner Area	Related Area Brands
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Ayabe City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha

Area Awards

Category	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Minami Kyushu City, Kagoshima	Yame City, Fukuoka
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka City, Shizuoka	Haibaragun Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Makinohara City, Shizuoka	Omaezaki City, Shizuoka
Kabuse-cha	Ayabe City, Kyoto	Maizuru City, Kyoto	Ujitawara Town, Kyoto
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Kyotanabe City, Kyoto	Fujieda City, Shizuoka
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Yame City, Fukuoka
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Higashisonogi-gun Higashisonogi town, Nagasaki	Ureshino City, Saga	Takeo City, Saga
Kamairi-cha	Nishiusukigun Gokasecho Town, Miyazaki	Nobeoka City, Miyazaki	Ureshino City, Saga

Summary by Chief Judge (Translation)

"

The 72nd National Tea Competition was held at Shizuokacha Shijyou in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka for the duration of 4 days between Aug 28th to Aug 31th 2018. 884 products produced from 19 prefectures, across 7 tea types and 8 contest categories were carefully evaluated by 20 judges coming from all over Japan.

The climate for this year was relatively high, and compared to normal years, the growth of the Ichibancha leaves were around 1 week faster. Many areas were able to increase their production as there weren't any major weather disasters. With these circumstances, the items in the contest were of good quality, and 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

106 items from 7 prefectures including Kagoshima, Shizuoka, and Miyazaki were evaluated.

This category is limited to machine picking. The high-ranking products were of both great visual and taste, and displayed high precision in their processes. The middle-ranking products were relatively weak in umami, and the lower-ranking products witnessed some hardening of the leaves due to late harvesting. There was a large quality drop compared to the high-ranking products.

Futsu-Sencha 4kg

102 items from 16 prefectures including Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki were evaluated.

The high-ranking products were both good in external visual and internal quality. The lower-grade items tend to have deduction points in the leaves themselves, and there was a large quality drop as compared to the high-ranking products.

Fukamushi-Sencha

125 items from 5 prefecture including Shizuoka and Kagoshima were evaluated.

The high-ranking products showed the yellow-green luster and rich umami which are characteristics of the Fukamishi-sencha. Compared to the higher and middle-ranked products, the lower products' steaming was lighter, and showed a gap in quality.

Kabuse-cha

107 items from across 8 prefectures including Kyoto and Mie were evaluated.

The high-ranking items were good quality which showed a good balance of the unique aroma of the Ooicha and the freshness. The middle-ranked products and lower-ranking products showed some quality difference compared to the high-ranking products, such as damage to the leaves or hardening of the leaves. Suggested that this was a difficult year in terms of handling the leaves or deciding the proper timing to harvest.

Gyokuro

99 items from 5 prefectures - Fukuoka, Kyoto, Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Aichi were evaluated.

The visual and the taste of both the high-ranking and middle-ranking products were of high quality. The ooika, the ooiaji, and the umami were mixed in harmony. Many items had a cloudy water color. Overall, high skills in maximizing the characteristics of the breed was demonstrated.

Tencha

111 items from 7 prefectures, including Kyoto, Aichi, Shizuoka and Fukuoka were evaluated.

The high-ranking products were of very good quality with good leaf color. While the middle-ranked products were relatively "quiet", many of them showed a harmonious balance of aroma. The lower ranked products had hardening of the leaves.

Mushisei-Tamaryokucha

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

The high-ranking and middle-ranking products were good quality. Many of the high-ranking products showed a great blend of the freshness of the young buds and umami. The products in the middle-ranking and lower-ranking products also were of high quality, and didn't see many products with deduction points.

Kamairi-cha

101 items from 4 prefectures including Miyazaki, Saga, and Kumamoto were evaluated.

The high-ranking products were of great quality with a fresh young-bud aroma and the refreshing unique taste which is a characteristic of the Kamairi-cha. They also displayed a richness in the color of the water. While the middle ranked products were a little lower in quality as compared to the high ranking products, the difference was relatively low with many products showing the good aroma of the Kamairi-cha. The lower-ranking products included ones with deductions, having larger leaves, insufficient contractions of the leaves, damaged leaves or a bad smell. Overall the differences in quality were small, and an overall improvement of the production quality has been observed.

[Resource]

http://jashizuoka-keizairen.net/news/info/72_2.html