Osadaen : Trailblazing ‘Mori-no-Cha’s’ Route to the Global Market【Morimachi, Shizuoka Prefecture】

Morimachi in western Shizuoka Prefecture, surrounded by small mountains with the clear Ota River running through it, is blessed with a rich natural environment. The tea produced here is known as ‘Mori-no-cha’ and has the full bodied flavour of fukamushicha, the fresh aroma of mountain tea, and a beautiful water colour. In this report, we introduce Osadaen, a retail shop whose parent company Osada Seicha is engaged in the production of ‘Mori-no-cha’ as well as their own independently produced matcha Nono, organic fermented tea Yamabuki Nadeshiko, and the export of tea to overseas markets.

This article reports on Osadaen’s delightful tea and their efforts in delivering Morimachi tea to the world, including an interview with Mr Natsumi Osada, President of Osada Seicha.

About Osadaen

Osadaen is a tea shop located in Morimachi, western. Shizuoka. It is operated by Osada Seicha, a long-established tea wholesaler established in 1948. Currently, the representative director is the third generation, Mr. Natsumi Osada.

▲The entrance has a Japanese-style rest area, with a little mascot sculpture of ‘Ishimatsu-kun’, modelled on the historical character Enshu Mori-no-Ishimatsu.

The shop is open-plan with a high ceiling. On display is primarily a range of Osada Seicha’s teas proudly produced locally in Morimachi. Their track record in receiving award after award is proof of the high quality of their products.

Other products include their organic kurokōji fermented tea, ‘Yamabuki Nadeshiko’, which won a gold medal at the World Green Tea Contest, as well as a large selection of tea-based confectionery, ceramics and accessories.

Upon entering the shop, staff politely offer visitors complimentary tea and sweets.

The taste and aroma of all beverages, not just tea, change depending on the cup from which they are drunk. At Osadaen, tea is always served in ceramic containers, in the hope that the tea can be consumed in its optimum form. (*In some cases, due to COVID-19 restrictions or large numbers of visitors, tea is served in plastic cups.)

The tea and café menu at Osadaen.

Osadaen offers a wide range of local Morimachi teas, café dishes, and a wide range of products that provide a casual introduction to the world of japanese tea.

Here are some of the items on offer. (*The café menu varies seasonally).

Matcha Set

Osadaen’s matcha, ‘Nono’ is made daily from tea leaves from its own tencha tea garden, which are ground on a millstone in the shop. It is an easy-to-drink matcha with a beautiful bright green colour that only the freshest matcha can produce.

▲Photos on the wall display the tencha tea plantation in “Toitsume”, located deep in Morimachi.

Mori No Matcha Soft Serve Ice Cream (Azuki Bean Topping)

Matcha soft serve ice cream drizzled generously with matcha syrup for a rich matcha flavour. Can be topped with Kyo azuki beans to the customer’s liking.

▲Brightly coloured, fresh and fragrant matcha which are ground on a millstone in the Osadaen shop.

Assorted Nono

Enjoy a richer matcha taste with a Matcha Affogato, an ice cream covered in matcha sauce. The Mori no Matcha Cream Sandwich is a Japanese rice wafer with roasted red beans and matcha cream sandwiched in between.

An infusion of the premium sencha ‘Forest Lover’ are included. This tea has a substantial level of flavour that sets it apart from the average tea you may find in typical hotels. It is the perfect match for an indulgent, sweet dish.

Matcha Lemon Squash

Fresh lemon fruitiness, subtle sweetness and matcha flavour are a delightful combination.

▲The bright green colour is mouth-watering.

Microbially fermented tea, ‘Yamabuki Nadeshiko’.

Yamabuki Nadeshiko is made with Osada Seicha’s organically grown tea and fermented with black koji using the Microbially Controlled Fermentation Method. The Microbially Controlled Fermentation Method was developed by Denbei Kawamura, the creator of Shizuoka yeast. Kawamura is credited with winning international acclaim for Shizuoka’s ginjo sake.

▲ Yamabuki Nadeshiko has a clean aroma and rich flavour. It is available for purchase as loose leaf, tea bags and bottled.

Organically grown tea is fermented in the company’s own certified organic workshops using only patented koji bacteria. The fermentation process yields a new polyphenol called teadenol A, as well as a wealth of health-promoting ingredients such as gallic acid and citric acid.

A corner of the shop at Osadaen has been made into an eat-in space.

A chic and stylish café, named the Osada Tea Café, is also located on the premises. (Open for a limited time only during the first flush tea season).

Interview: Osadaen aims to be a teahouse working with the local community to build a future for itself.

We spoke with Osada Seicha’s president Osada Natsumi.

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Osada Seicha, despite its status as a heritage brand within the Japanese tea industry, seeks to present tea to the world in a form befitting modern times.

–Please tell us about Osada Seicha.

Osada Seicha is a tea wholesaler based in Morimachi, Shizuoka Prefecture, and was founded in 1948. Long trusted for their safety and quality, We have continued to create a spectrum of attractive, unique teas and tea related products that showcase the charms of tea.

We are constantly working on production of our locally grown ‘Mori no cha’, matcha ‘Nono’ made from our own tea farm, organic and fermented teas, and tea-based confectioneries, while always pursuing new forms that are in tune with the times.

We endeavor to increase consumers’ exposure to the world of tea by offering tea in diverse forms

–Generally, tea shops have the tendency to push loose leaf tea to the forefront, but at Osadaen, you offer tea in a variety of forms, including tea bags and plastic bottles.

Of course, we would love people to drink loose leaf tea, however, as the number of people who don’t own teapots increases, it becomes unreasonable to recommend loose leaf tea as the first choice.

We believe that first of all, it’s necessary to create a casual entry point into contact with tea. Our solution is to provide tea-based confectionery and drinks, such as those on our café menu, as a doorway into the world of tea.

Then tea bags. Then powdered tea, and finally loose leaf tea. The idea is to encourage tea consumption in a step-by-step manner.

–I see, so your aim is to broaden the general public’s exposure to tea.

We have to work together with tea farmers and be a teahouse that shapes the future of the tea industry.

The key question for us is how can we increase the demand for tea? How can we increase the price of tea leaves? The profits earned are passed on to growers. If the price of tea leaves falls, profit also decreases, resulting in less money being returned to the grower. If prices fall to a level that deems production an impossibility, the number of producers themselves will decline.

A decrease in numbers of producers leads directly to a decrease in supply. If the supply continues to decrease, we tea wholesalers may find ourselves in a situation where we are unable to procure the raw tea leaves that we want.

Tea plantations across Morimachi are falling into disrepair, starting with the steep mountainsides. In order to stop this trend, we must deliver tea to consumers, mindful of the fact that we are also dependent on tea farmers.

Osada Tea Japan brings Morimachi tea to the world

These days, demand for organically grown tea for overseas export is increasing. For more than 20 years now, Osada Seicha has been involved in the organic cultivation of tea with tea farmers who have plantations at an altitude of 300-500 m in the Sunagawa area of Haruno-cho in Hamamatsu.

Having painstakingly prepared this organic sencha, the company is now working to expan into overseas markets under the name Osada Tea Japan.

–For more than 20 years now? At that time there wasn’t much interest in organic tea in generally. How on earth did you get started?

First, a survey was conducted to determine whether tea plantations located in the semi-mountainous region of north-west Shizuoka Prefecture are suitable for organic farming. Tea gardens in this mountainous area are located on a slope, which makes mechanisation of harvest procedures difficult. However, the quality is excellent and has a fresh aroma unique to tea grown in mountainous areas. The research showed that the surrounding natural environment is suitable for organic cultivation.

First, we proposed to more than a dozen tea farmers to convert to organic farming. From there, through a process of trial and error, the basis for organic cultivation was established, and in 2002 the farmers were awarded JAS organic certification. Today, the company is also certified by Ecocert, which is recognised as being of the same standard as organic certification in the USA, Canada and the European Union.

▲Osadaen also has a stylish ‘tea incense burner’ in the shop. The aromatic fragrance of tea wafts from the burning incense burners.

–You are working towards connecting tea produced in Morimachi to the global demand for tea.

Osada Seicha aims to be a teahouse working with the local community to build a future for itself. We want to create an industry where the next generation will want to participate in tea production. To this end, we would like to take on the challenge of producing more even higher quality, value-added tea products in the future!

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Information of Osadaen

Address	1522-1, Mori, Mori-machi, Shuchi-gun, Shizuoka 437-0215, Japan
Website	https://www.osadaenhonten.com/
Phone number	0538-85-1500
E-money and credit cards	Credit cards and Partially e-money available
Open	8：30～18：00
Closed	Open all year round, closed only on New Year’s Day.
Parking lot	available
Access	5 minutes drive from Shin-Tomei Mori Kakegawa IC. 10-minute walk from Enshu-Mori Station.

 

Writer	Norikazu Iwamoto
Career	Ochatimes chief editer. Meeting with Vice Governor of Shizuoka prefecture. Judge of Shizuoka 100 tea’s award in 2021~23. Ocha Times link introduced at website of World O-CHA(Tea) Festival 2022, Tea Science Center, The City of Green Tea Shizuoka,  Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

 

English translator	Calfo Joshua
Career	Born and raised in England, living in Japan since 2016. Studying arboriculture in Shizuoka Prefecture whilst operating his landscape business Calfo Forestry. Appreciating the nature of Japan and the culture that places such importance in it.