rdwyer@fastmail.com · junk-mail
🍵 Yunomi.Club News 🍵 Exploring Tea Villages #4 — Takase, Kagawa Prefecture
Sat Jun 27, 2026 · 11:30 AM EDT
Exploring one of Japan’s rarest regional teas from Takase in Kagawa Prefecture.
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Exploring Tea Villages #4Takase, Kagawa Prefecture
This week, our journey takes us to Kagawa Prefecture, home to one of Japan’s lesser-known yet deeply respected regional teas: Takase-cha (高瀬茶).
Produced in the Ninomiya district of Takase Town in Mitoyo City, Takase-cha accounts for nearly 80% of Kagawa’s tea production. Yet despite its local importance, it represents only around 0.2% of Japan’s total tea output, making it an exceptionally rare tea rarely encountered outside the prefecture.
Building A Tea Region
Tea cultivation in Takase began relatively recently compared to many historic tea regions in Japan.
In the late 1940s, local communities sought ways to revitalize the rural economy through specialty agriculture.
Tea cultivation emerged as a promising opportunity, and full-scale production officially began in 1956.
Just two years later, Takase-cha received the highest award — the Minister of Agriculture Award — at its very first prefectural tea competition entry. In the years that followed, the tea continued earning top honors at regional tea competitions across Shikoku and Kansai.
Takase-cha was also once presented to Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun during an imperial visit to Kagawa Prefecture, reflecting the region’s reputation for exceptional quality.
About the Takase Tea Coop
Today, much of the region’s tea production and processing is supported by the Takase Tea Cooperative, based in Mitoyo City, Kagawa. They works closely with local growers to cultivate, process, and promote Takase-cha while maintaining consistent quality and regional identity.
Despite the region’s extremely small production volume, Takase-cha has earned national recognition through tea competitions and continues to be valued as one of Kagawa’s representative regional products.
Rare, Local, and Regional
Takase-cha is known for its confident aroma and balanced flavor profile, qualities that local producers take immense pride in.
Because production volumes remain extremely small, most Takase-cha is consumed within Kagawa itself. Even within Japan, it remains something of a hidden tea — well known locally, but rarely seen elsewhere.
That rarity is part of what makes discovering teas like Takase-cha so meaningful. Beyond the major tea regions of Japan exists a rich landscape of smaller tea communities, each shaped by its own history, environment, and local culture.
#1072.01 : 2026 Takase Tea Coop : Premium Sencha "Sanuki" / 特上煎茶「讃岐」
#1073.01 : 2026 Takase Tea Coop : Sencha "Takase" / 煎茶「高瀬」
Through our travel to tea villages, we hope to continue introducing not only tea, but also the places and people behind each cup.
Stay tuned for our next journey to a tea village in Japan.
Shincha 2026
Our full shincha collection continues to grow throughout the season as more teas arrive from across Japan.
Explore All Shincha Products
Explore Tea Series by Yunomi.life
PaletteTea and non-tea powders
ClassicsFamiliar comfort and reliable quality
Starry NightInspired by the 12 zodiac signs
IkiInspired by the rhythm of life
FLOWSoft flavors and everyday freshness
RINRefined elegance and quiet confidence
About Yunomi.life
Yunomi.life brings Japanese culture into contemporary life by helping small-scale producers in the tea industry find & create new markets. Our service breaks down logistic and linguistic barriers that separate producers from connoisseurs worldwide.
More than “farm-to-table”, we believe in “people-to-people”, introducing the people behind the products with unprecedented transparency. The result is the world's largest online catalog of artisanal tea from Japan.
Yunomi.life KK 1-3-17-1F Yutakacho, Shinagawa, Tokyo 142-0042, Japan
ocha@yunomi.life
No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe
© 2026 Yunomi.life