The National Cha Hinpyoukai

The 74th National Tea Competition of Japan Results (2020)

While there were grave concerns regarding the event taking place due to the pandemic, the 74th National Tea Competition of Japan (Zenkoku Cha Hinpyoukai) was conducted, and the results are in!

Here we are introducing the results of this prestigious event. You can go here to learn about the annual event itself and past results.

This year, the following awards were recognized.

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

13 is an unusually high number of "Japanese Association of Tea Production Award.

Group Awards

Area Award 1st Place - 8 winners
Area Award 2nd Place - 8 winners
Area Award 3rd Place - 9 winners

Also for the area awards, this year there have been 25 given out. (this is due to a tie in the 3rd place finish for the Tencha category.

Results

Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Award - 8 winners

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

Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Secretary Award - 12 winners

Category	Related Area Brands	Winner Area
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Chiran-cha
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Kagoshima-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Haibaragun Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	Kawane-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Omaezaki City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Kabuse-cha	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto *2 winners from Uji City for this award	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto *2 winners from Uji City for this award	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga *2 winners from Ureshino City	Ureshino-cha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga *2 winners from Ureshino City	Ureshino-cha
Kamairi-cha	Nobeoka City, 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, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Fujieda City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Saito City, Miyazaki	-
Kamairi-cha	Ureshino City, Saga	Ureshino-cha

Japanese Association of Tea Production Award - 13 winners

Category	Related Area Brands	Winner Area
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Chiran-cha
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Haibaragun Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	Kawane-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Haibaragun Kawanehonchou town, Shizuoka	Kawane-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Yame City, Fukuoka	Yamecha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka *2 winners from Yame City for this award	Yamecha
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka *2 winners from Yame City for this award	Yamecha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto *3 winners from Jyouyou City for this award	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto *3 winners from Jyouyou City for this award	Ujicha
Tencha (Matcha)	Jyouyou City, Kyoto *3 winners from Jyouyou City for this award	Ujicha
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 BrandsUji
Futsu-Sencha 10g	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Chiran-cha
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Shizuoka-cha
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kakegawa-cha
Kabuse-cha	Tsuzukigun Ujitawaracho Town, 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	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima	Kirishima City, Kagoshima	Yame City, Fukuoka
Futsu-Sencha 4g	Haibaragun Kawanehoncho Town, Shizuoka	Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka	Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima
Fukamushi-Sencha	Kakegawa City, Shizuoka	Kikugawa City, Shizuoka	Makinohara City, Shizuoka
Kabuse-cha	Yame City, Fukuoka	Tsuzukigun Ujitawaracho Town, Kyoto	Kirishima City, Kagoshima
Gyokuro	Yame City, Fukuoka	Kyotanabe City, Kyoto	Tsuzukigun Ujitawaracho Town, Kyoto
Tencha (Matcha)	Uji City, Kyoto	Jyouyou City, Kyoto	Kusegun Kumiyamacho Town, Kyoto Yame City, Fukuoka
Mushisei-Tamaryokucha	Ureshino City, Saga	Higashisonogigun, Nagasaki	Takeo City, Saga
Kamairi-cha	Ureshino City, Saga	Nobeoka City, Miyazaki	Takachihocho Town, Miyazaki

Summary by Chief Judge (Translation)

"

The 74th National Tea Competition was held between the 4 days of August 25th to August 28th 2020. It was held at the Orocity Mall Kagoshima City, Kagoshima. 987 products produced in 16 prefectures across 7 tea types and 8 contest categories were carefully evaluated by 20 judges coming from all over Japan.

With the higher temperatures in February and March, it was assumed that this year's Ichibancha would grow earlier. However, the temperatures dropped from early April, and the growth of the new buds slowed down. In addition to this, there may have been areas that struggled to secure sufficient workforce due to the corona virus pandemic. Despite such situation, the tea submitted in the contest were of high quality, and the high level of the cultivation and manufacturing technology was impressive. I would like to pay tribute to the passion, efforts, and high skills of the producers.

Below is the summary for each category.

Futsu-Sencha 10kg

135 items from 5 prefectures including Kagoshima, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, 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. While the middle-ranking and low-ranking products were relatively weak in umami and aroma, there were no large deductions. Overall, great quality tea were on display.

Futsu-Sencha 4kg

108 items from 14 prefectures including Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Nara, and Kyoto were evaluated.

The high-ranking products were great tea with both high internal and external visual scores. However, the number of such products seemed to be less. The middle-ranking products dropped in quality, and the low-ranking products showed deduction points coming from cultivation and manufacturing processes. Overall in the 4kg category the drop in quality between the high-ranking products and the middle to low-ranking products was evident. We hope for future improvements especially for the low-ranking products.

Fukamushi-Sencha

129 items from the 2 prefectures of Shizuoka and Kagoshima were evaluated.

The high-ranking products showed the yellow-green luster, deep aroma, and a classy umami. While the higher and middle-ranked products showed a small difference in quality, the lower products' steaming was light, and showed a drop.

Kabuse-cha

104 items from 7 prefectures including Kyoto, Mie, and Kagoshima were evaluated.

The high-ranking and middle-ranking items were good quality which showed the fresh green luster of Kabuse-cha, a harmonious mix of ooika and freshness, and umami. The lower ranked products had deductions coming from the cultivation process and the storage of the leaves.

Gyokuro

119 items from 8 prefectures - Kyoto, Fukuoka, Shizuoka, and Kagoshima, were evaluated.

The internal and external visual scores 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 teas showed high skill in leveraging on the characteristics of the tea breed and the shading of the leaves. Overall, I felt that high quality tea representing Japan was on display.

Tencha

171 items from 8 prefectures, including Kyoto, Aichi, and Kagoshima were evaluated.

The high-ranking products showed strong shading, good fresh colour representation, and the aroma and umami which are the characteristics of Tencha. The Middle ranking and the High ranking products were of small quality gap, and many displayed great umami. The lower ranking products had items with insufficient umami or colour.

Mushisei-Tamaryokucha

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

The high-ranking and middle-ranking products were good quality with small drop in quality. The products showed a great fresh scent of the young buds and umami, showing high technology in the cultivation, manufacturing and processing of tea. The lower-ranking products included items which showed scents which come from damaged leaves or hardening of the leaves, and we hope these are improved.

Kamairi-cha

102 items from 5 prefectures including Miyazaki, Saga, and Kumamoto were evaluated.

Many high quality products were high-ranking showing the brilliance and tightness of young buds, scent which is unique to Kamairi-cha, and good umami. While the middle-ranking products were a little lower in quality as compared to the higher-ranking products, the differences were small and didn't have too many deductions. The low quality products had problems such as insufficient compactness and hardening of the leaves. Overall the quality was high, and displayed improvements of the skill by the manufacturers.

Resource Link

https://www.pref.aichi.jp/uploaded/attachment/306644.pdf