Marushige Shimizu Tea Farm

Introduction

The Shimizu family operates an award winning tea farm based in the village of Suizawa in Yokkaichi City, Mie, famous for its bankoyaki tea ware. Their tea fields span 10 hectare with a total production of about 600 kilograms, a very small amount compared to many other operations, but they and the 9 other commercial farms in the village specialize in producing a shaded tea called Kabusecha. A subset of Mie Prefecture's Isecha (ee-SEH-cha), tea from Suizawa Village, takes the best flavors from sencha tea and the richness of gyokuro to form a delicious fusion.

MARUSHIGE SHIMIZU COVERING THE KABUSECHA TEA FIELDS

The Shimizu family also operate the "kabusecha cafe", in a kominka (traditional Japanese house) that was built 70 years ago. It is a very welcoming and child-friendly space where customers can choose their favorite tea, including the Shimizu family's carefully selected varieties of kabusecha, genmaicha, and hojicha. The Shimizu family opened this cafe in hopes to promote kabusecha (lightly shaded green tea), which is their specialty.

Awards

1993 - 47th National Tea Competition - Kabusecha Division - Minister's Award

1996 - 49th National Tea Competition - Kabusecha Division - Minister's Award

2007 - World Green Tea Contest - Gold Award

2010 - 8th International Tea Competition - Gold Award

2014 - 10th International Tea Competition - Gold Award