South of Kyoto, in a fold between mountains,
a town has been growing tea for eight hundred years.
Wazuka — where every MIOKA tea begins.
Wazuka, Kyoto — where every MIOKA tea begins.
A Village of Mist and Tea
At the southern edge of Kyoto Prefecture, beyond Uji and further into the hills, lies Wazuka — a town given over to tea, its fields stitched across the mountainsides. The days are warm and the nights cool, and river mist rises easily through the valley. That mist becomes a natural shade, wrapping the leaves softly and drawing out their fragrance.
The history reaches back to the Kamakura period. For some eight hundred years since, this town has made tea as one of the principal growing regions of Uji tea, one generation after another. The fields follow the shape of the mountains in a landscape known as chagenkyo, the homeland of tea, recognised among Kyoto Prefecture's scenic assets. The view itself is a record of eight centuries of work.
Why Wazuka
There are three reasons MIOKA chose this place.
First, the land itself. Mist, the swing between warm days and cool nights, the slope of the mountainsides — a terrain and climate that seem made for tea, laying the foundation for fragrance.
Second, eight hundred years of hands. The land's capacity only becomes tea through the skill that draws it out. Wazuka's growers hold cultivation knowledge refined across generations.
Third, the choice to farm organically. Every MIOKA leaf is organically grown and certified under Japan's Organic JAS standard. No synthetic fertilisers, no synthetic pesticides — the soil is built up, and the soil grows the tea. It takes more work. We don't consider this remarkable. For something you drink, it is simply the baseline.
From the Land to Your Cup
Leaves grown here become matcha, sencha, hojicha, genmaicha, wakocha. You can see how five paths diverge from the same Wazuka leaf in A Map of Japanese Tea.
For a longer read on this town's eight centuries, see TEA JOURNAL: Eight Hundred Years in the Misted Hills, Part One ・ Part Two.
Wazuka tea, in your everyday
Organically grown Japanese tea, from a land eight hundred years in the making.
Misted mornings, bright afternoons — eight hundred years of them.
All of it is poured into your cup.
Fragrance Beyond Time and Borders.
