A New Perspective on Japanese Tea | The Work of Tsuguto Hattori
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Time to read 2 min
Located in a valley surrounded by densely planted cedar trees stretching high into the hillsides, Higashiyoshino is a small village approximately 90 minutes south of Nara City, deep in the mountains along the border of Nara and Mie prefectures. The region is renowned for its cedar, with a history of forestry stretching back over 500 years. Although still active, the industry has declined over time, and Higashiyoshino has lost approximately half its population over the past 20 years, leaving around 1,500 residents.
In recent years, the village’s remote setting, pristine water, and abundance of natural materials have begun to attract a new generation of designers, makers, and ceramicists. Among them is Tsuguto Hattori, who has reclaimed tea fields abandoned generations ago to produce some of the most distinctive teas in our catalog. As a first-generation tea producer, free from the conventions of what Japanese tea can and should be, he has forged his own path, expanding the possibilities of tea in Japan.
We began working with Hattori-san in 2024, when I discovered his teas while researching domestically produced white tea, a rarity in Japan. Most of the samples I had encountered from other producers lacked finesse. Although the production of white tea is deceptively simple, achieving the level of refinement necessary to reveal its complexity is far more difficult. Hattori-san's white tea immediately stood out for its careful leaf processing, clear fragrance, and flavors that continued to develop over multiple steeps. I was equally impressed by his Silver Needle, made exclusively from the youngest buds of the tea plant and virtually unheard of in Japan, as well as his wakoucha, which displayed remarkable depth.
We visited Hattori-san in June 2025, shortly after he had completed the year's first harvest. He showed us the steep hillside where he had reclaimed an abandoned tea plantation. Most of the tea plants are over 70 years old, two to three times the age of those found in many conventional Japanese tea fields. In Chinese and Taiwanese tea traditions, older tea plants are often prized for the depth and subtlety of the teas they produce.
Hattori-san found that Chinese-style teas, including white tea and Silver Needle, were particularly well suited to the conditions of his fields. These teas reveal their character gradually over multiple infusions, in contrast to conventional Japanese sencha, where much of the emphasis is placed on the first steep.
There was also a practical consideration behind his approach. Working entirely by hand, from harvesting through production, Hattori-san needed to develop a method suited to the limited amount of tea he could harvest and process himself. By focusing on the youngest buds and leaves, he could produce small quantities of exceptional tea while working within these constraints.
In 2024 and 2025, we purchased nearly his entire production, with annual quantities averaging less than 5kg of finished tea. Through our continued relationship with Hattori-san, we have been able to support the growth of his small production while making these remarkable teas available to a wider audience. We hope they offer a glimpse into the unique landscape of Higashiyoshino and the possibilities being explored by a new generation of Japanese tea producers.
