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About
800 years ago,after finishing his long and difficult training,a
priest returned home to Japan from Soh,present day China.His
name was Eisai.Eisai went on famously to become the founder
of Rinzaishuu Buddhism in Japan.According to documents of the
time,when he returned he was carrying some seeds,which he then
went on to carefully plant in the ground. |
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| Today,800
years later,those seeds have grown,changed into young shoots
and become tea.In his great work on 'How to care for tea'Eisai
tried to enlighten the Japanese about the health aspects of
tea as a drink,in particular its mysterious life prolonging
properties.In fact it is now known that these health properties
which tea contains are in the form of Vitamin C and Catephin.Tea,it
has been discovered,is effective in the fight against cancer
and other adult diseases.800 years after Eisai first tried to
teach the Japanese about tea,once again there are passionate
people trying to tell the world about its charm. |
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Here
we see one man passionately making tea in Kyoto.His name is
Aijiro Nagata. Aijiro was Nagata Chaen's founderHe was born
and raised in Japan's most prominent tea producingarea of Uji.Whilst
growing up he started to devote himself to the work of tea making.And
when he was aroung the age of 30 he started working for one
of Kyoto's traditional tea company's in order to hone his skills
in the technique of tea making.He was very happy with his work
until one day,at this particular company,Aijiro was confronted
by the unusual reality of tea making.He was shocked when he
learned that the company he trusted so much used artificial
additives in its tea production. |
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| ――“At
that time,it was common for artificial sweeteners,etc,to be
added to low quality tea,so you are cheated by the flavour and
high sales price.They were using a lot of agricultural chemicals
and artificial fertilizers in the cultivation process.”
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Nagata chaen
president Kokichi Nagata |
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"What
if my family was to drink this tea that I made?"For a while
Aijiro pondered on his dlimma on this way of tea making.However,from
his trouble's came a piece of inspiration."If I am worried this
much why don't I make my own tea?"And so the following day,Aijiro
handed over his resignation to theCompany he was working at. |
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| Aijiro
then began to make the perfect tea.An encouraging sign for Aijiro
was that he had already received the consent and collaboration
of hi son Koukichi who wa involved in the tea making business
himself.These two strated on their challenge.First they looked
for the perfect field to grow tea.They searched for a number
of months aroung the Kyoto area and finally,"Here.If we are
going to make the perfect tea,it can only be here."And so the
2 found their perfect tea field. |
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――“Why
here? Why did we choose this location?Well the reasons were:Firstly
the morning mist acts as a shade to bright sunlight,and because
it helps stimulate chlorophyll and amino acid production the
tea has a naturally sweetish taste.Secondly,due to the temperature
difference between morning and evening we are able to generate
a moderate body and astringency in the tea.Thirdly,The gradient
of the slope is good for drainage and ventilation,which means
it is difficult for the crop to get damaged.It really is the
perfect location to make tea.”
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top of this,the chosen location of Nagata Chaen is isolated
from other tea fields,which means there is no risk of contamination
by pollutants from neighbouring farms,which use chemical fertilizers.Also
the approved field had been organically treated farmland for
over 3 years.This control period confirmed the eradication of
pollutants from the peripheral environment.Thanks to this we
can always be assured that only safe,pure soil is used in the
making of this tea. |
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