Zairai tea fields spreading across the hills of Ishitobi under a summer sky

MINAMATA · TSUNAGI · ASHIKITA

A Journey Through The History of Zairai TeaMinamata, Tsunagi, Ashikita

A hundred years of tea trees
still standing in these mountains —
because someone chose to keep them.

About this journey

Walk century-old zairai tea fields with the people who grow them.

The towns of Minamata, Tsunagi and Ashikita lie in a narrow band between the water and mountains along the Shiranui Sea, in southern Kumamoto Prefecture. For centuries people here have picked tea in the mountains and pan-fired the leaves at home, and seed-grown zairai tea plants are still scattered across the hills.

Visit two tea gardens with their owners: one in Tsuge, Ashikita, whose black tea took Best in Show at THE LEAFIES 2022, and one in Ishitobi, Minamata, grown without pesticides for 47 years. Roll your own black tea by hand and gather for a tea party in the forest. In the evening, pair wakocha (Japanese black tea) with local food at a hot spring inn, and on the final day choose a cup just for you in a tea room overlooking the sea.

Not sightseeing from the outside, but three days spent close to the lives and philosophy of the people who make the tea.

A bamboo winnowing basket standing in a tea field
Mountain tea leaves roasting over a fire
Japanese black tea leaves on a tea scoop
Food, sweets and black tea laid out on a table in the forest

Where you will go

Four places, three days.

From mountain tea gardens to a hot spring town, and on to a tea room by the sea.

Picking tea shoots by hand
Tsuge, AshikitaKajihara Tea Garden

Walk award-winning tea fields, and roll the leaves yourself.

This garden's Benifuki black tea took Best in Show at THE LEAFIES 2022. Walk the steep tea fields with grower Kajihara Toshihiro, watch a demonstration of hand-rolling, and make your own black tea.

Hand-rolled tea leaves in the palms
Kajihara Toshihiro standing in a tea field
A tea party around a table in the forest
Ishitobi, MinamataAmano Seichaen

A tea party in the forest, 600 meters up.

A garden that has grown tea without pesticides or chemical fertilizers for 47 years. Walk zairai tea fields more than 90 years old with grower Amano Hiroshi, then enjoy black tea and food in the forest, surrounded by earthenware and tea plants.

Food for the forest tea party packed in a basket
Amano Hiroshi talking in his tea field
A guest room at Tsurunoya with a low table and beds on tatami
Yunotsuru, MinamataYunotsuru Geihinkan Tsurunoya

Dinner paired with wakocha in a hot spring town.

Yunotsuru is a hot spring town where the water rises along the river. In a tatami room at Tsurunoya, enjoy a tea pairing dinner that matches wakocha from both gardens with ingredients from the Shiranui Sea. The Zairai Table and MINAMATA TEA FLIGHT are also held here.

Colorful umbrellas strung above the river in Yunotsuru Onsen
A wooden bath
Soho-no-ma, a tatami room with the sea beyond the windows
Yunoko, MinamataYunoko Umi to Yuyake

A cup of your own, overlooking the Shiranui Sea.

On the final day, head to Soho-no-ma, a tatami room by the sea. A tea sommelier demonstrates how to brew, helps you choose a cup to suit how you feel that day, and guides you in making a blend of your own.

The Shiranui Sea and its islands seen from Yunoko
Two cups of Japanese black tea with sweets

A journey to meet the people
who grow and brew the tea.

  • Amano Hiroshi standing in a tea fieldAmano HiroshiAmano Seichaen
  • Kajihara Toshihiro standing in a tea fieldKajihara ToshihiroKajihara Tea Garden
  • Otsuka Kazuko standing in a tea fieldOtsuka KazukoTea sommelier, Wanoka Tea
  • Ide Kazuya at the entrance of TsurunoyaIde KazuyaYunotsuru Geihinkan Tsurunoya
  • Nagatomo Minami in front of her shopNagatomo MinamiOkashi no Kuni Un Cinq

Taste several at a time and find the one you like.
Getting to know tea is not so different from knowing yourself.

A century, one sip at a time.

There are three ways to join this journey.

An earthenware pot of mountain tea leaves over a fire in the forest

3 days, 2 nights

ZAIRAI: A Journey Through Century-Old Tea

Three days visiting two tea gardens, guided by the people who grow the tea. Walk the fields, roll the leaves by hand, gather for a tea party in the forest, and end your journey with a cup by the sea.

Walk two tea gardens with their growers and stay two nights at a hot spring inn, with 6 meals and a tea pairing dinner.

Three days at a glance

  1. Day 1Tsuge tea fields and making black tea

    • Walk the Tsuge tea fields with grower Kajihara
    • Hand-rolling demonstration, making your own black tea, and tasting
    • Tea pairing dinner at Tsurunoya in the evening

  2. Day 2A tea party in the Ishitobi forest

    • Walk zairai tea fields more than 90 years old with grower Amano
    • Forest tea party (earthenware, tea plants, black tea, food and sweets)
    • Hand-rolling demonstration and rod tea making; in the afternoon, choose places to visit in Minamata

  3. Day 3A private tea session by the sea

    • Brewing demonstration by a tea sommelier in Soho-no-ma, Yunoko
    • Personal tasting and blending to suit your mood and taste
    • Bento lunch; the tour ends at Shin-Minamata Station in the early afternoon
Pouring black tea into three cups

About 2 hours

The Zairai Table

Taste the soil. Taste the water. The same leaf changes with the place. With a tea sommelier at your table, spend two unhurried hours comparing wakocha and pairing it with food.

A pairing of 6–8 Japanese black teas with dishes and sweets made from local ingredients.

Two hours at a glance

  1. ListenA tea sommelier introduces the history of tea in Minamata and Ashikita, and how this land came to produce black tea.
  2. CompareSix to eight teas of different cultivars, harvest years and processing methods, one cup at a time. Discover how teas from one area change with the soil, the water and the hands that make them.
  3. PairEnjoy dishes and sweets made from local ingredients alongside the tea, in a Minamata Wakoucha-style pairing.

Some sessions include teas not available on the market, such as aged tea laid down since 2018. English explanatory materials are provided.

Two cups of black tea side by side

About 45 minutes

MINAMATA TEA FLIGHT

An award-winning cup and a cup grown without pesticides for 47 years, side by side. No guide is present: take your time with the leaflet in hand. An easy 45-minute stop on your trip.

Two black teas from two gardens, with seasonal baked sweets.

45 minutes at a glance

  1. First cup: Tsuge, AshikitaBlack tea from Kajihara Tea Garden. Made from Benifuki, it was named Best in Show at THE LEAFIES 2022.
  2. Second cup: Ishitobi, MinamataBlack tea from Amano Seichaen, grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers for 47 years, from zairai plants more than 90 years old.
  3. Side by sideCompare two teas that differ in altitude, soil and water hardness, with seasonal baked sweets.

The leaflet is yours to take home.

Before you book

ZAIRAI: A Journey Through Century-Old Tea

  • The tea fields are private land. Please do not enter or take photos without the grower's guidance.
  • You will walk on mountain slopes. Please wear comfortable shoes and clothes that can get dirty.
  • As this is an inaugural (monitor) tour, participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire, and photographs will be taken for record purposes.

The Zairai Table

  • You will taste 6–8 teas that contain caffeine.
  • The sweets contain wheat, dairy, egg and citrus (amanatsu).
  • The teas served vary from session to session.

MINAMATA TEA FLIGHT

  • Not recommended for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or who are limiting caffeine.
  • Decaffeinated options are not available.
  • The sweets contain wheat, dairy, egg and citrus.

Please see each plan's booking page for full details and to make a reservation.

See the plans