NaturaliTea by the Kinezuka Family : FUJIEDA, SHIZUOKA pref.
Info
A pioneer in organic tea farming, Toshiaki Kinezuka is one of the most respected names among tea farmers, with farmers traveling from across Japan coming to study organic farming methods. His daughters Ayumi and Tamiko are learning to take over tea leaf cultivation. They are also pioneering black tea leaf production in Japan utilizing tea plants traditionally used for sencha.
Young tea farmer, Ayumi Kinezuka, talks about her family’s organic farm
(2011 interview): Ayumi Kinezuka is an amazing young woman, who has been farming on her father’s tea farm for the past 8 years. In this first video, Ayumi talks about the importance of her family’s connection to customers, the difficulties her father had 35 years ago in transitioning the farm from chemicals to organics, and the advantages of being organic and of connecting with other farmers to market their products.
Why I became a farmer!
In this second video, Ayumi Kinezuka shares with us the reasons behind her decision to return to her father’s organic tea farm and become a farmer. From her studies in psychology and sociology to her decision to take what she has learnt and … go back to the farm – Ayumi’s story is truly inspirational.
Young japanese farmer connects others to the land as she learns about rice production!
Ayumi Kinezuka has a great passion to involve others in the farming experience. In this third video, Ayumi talks about how she is learning to produce rice, and in doing so, invites other people to join her in her journey, from the planting to the harvesting. This story is more than just about producing rice, it is an impressive story about success through sharing and connecting.
About
NAME
NaturaliTea by Hito to No, Shizen wo Tsunagu Kai – the Kinezuka family’s company name
ESTABLISHED
1976
FARM LABOR
In addition to their own fields, the Kinezuka family’s company has partnerships with over thirty other neighboring farmers to both research organic farming techniques and work together to produce tea leaves. Leaves are then aggregated and processed into the products below.
FARMING STYLE
The Kinezuka family are pioneers in organic tea farming.
Farming Philosophy
A good farmer knows that to produce good crops, one must first develop good soil. Thus, the taste of good organic tea is made half of tea leaves and half of the hearts of their farmers.
The philosophy that has driven Toshiaki Kinezuka for nearly four decades can be summed up by this statement: “A good farmer knows that to produce good crops, one must first develop good soil.
Thus, the taste of good organic tea is made half of tea leaves and half of the hearts of their farmers.”
What many people don’t realize however, is that soil development and even further, development of the macro environment of a farm is a decade long process. The balance between people, agriculture and nature is a delicate one, but when carefully cultivated, nature actually takes care of itself…predatory insects such as spiders keep pests in check, the tea plants are strengthened against disease, and the soil’s balance produces the nutrients necessary to create delicious tea.
This balance is also how we farmers used to farm our crops, before modern science introduced artificial chemicals and pesticides. You might say that this philosophy is a return to traditional agriculture.
Modern agriculture though, has unfortunately forgotten what was once obvious to our ancestors. Instead, we return to the roots of agriculture as we develop not only our tea fields, but work to involve nearly thirty farmers in the region to produce an environment conducive to the highest quality tea through truly traditional organic farming methods.
Soil Development
In order produce good agricultural products, a good farmer knows that he must first develop good soil. Good soil is developed by utilizing organic fertilizer and compost, increasing the animals in the soil such as earthworms and microorganisms, whose activity decomposes organic material into nutrients that can be absorbed by plants. Tea plants rooted in soil that is fertile and fluffy grow strong roots, and produce healthy, high quality tea leaves.
Ecosystem
To farm organically, means of course to avoid using pesticides and chemicals, but also means to place importance on the ecological balance of nature as well as our co-existence with nature. A pesticide-free tea field is a very busy place with insects and the animals that prey on those insects such as ladybugs, spiders, frogs, snakes, and birds. There are even wild boars that come to eat earthworms. Managing this balance however does not mean destroying it with pesticides, but learning to utilize the power of nature to grow healthy plants.
Cooperation
The creation of organic tea requires good partners. With our partners we exchange information about the management of the tea fields and to improve our processing techniques. We help each other and encourage each other to create the highest quality tea leaves. With nearly thirty farmers, we continue to expand our circle of friends in the tea agriculture industry.
Interaction
Tea has for centuries been a facilitator of conversation and relationships. The creation of good tea is thus also the creation of connection between people. The creation of our organic farm is the result of the support of many many customers in Japan. Every year at the beginning of the spring harvest season we hold a tea picking event, at the beginning of summer a black tea processing event, and we also hold camps for agricultural college students so that people can both connect with one another and with nature.
Food Culture
Tea and food cannot be separated from each other. The degradation of food culture will certainly lead to the degradation of tea culture. We help to preserve Japanese agriculture and food culture by showing visitors the food culture of daily life on a farm, by having them taste the natural flavor and make with their own hands miso, konnyaku, the killing of chickens, the gathering and cooking of edible wild plants in each season.
