Machine-processed new Japanese tea leaves from central Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture fetched a top price of 1.18 million yen per kilogram at the season’s inaugural auction on Monday.
The green tea leaves were grown in the city of Shizuoka, and sold at the Shizuoka Japanese Tea Market’s annual auction of the latest crop. Market officials said this year’s tea grew steadily, helped by early spring rainfall that supported strong bud growth.
Natsuki Wada, a Shizuoka tea wholesaler who bought the top-priced lot, said, “It was tea that truly met my expectations. I hope to let everyone get a taste of Japanese culture” through the tea.
The market, which introduced electronic bidding this year, reported that about 1,169 kg of tea produced in Shizuoka Prefecture had been traded by 9:10 a.m., at an average price of 10,686 yen per kg.
Yasuhide Uchino, the market’s president, expressed hopes that the new bidding system would help attract more buyers from beyond the prefecture.
Shizuoka Prefecture is renowned in Japan for its green tea. Late April is expected to be the peak for tea-leaf harvesting.
© KYODO
