Tea & drinks ── Nihoncha (Japanese tea)
Ureshino-cha
Ureshino-cha — home of curled tamaryokucha
A Saga tea region known for producing tamaryokucha — the comma-shaped guricha style. Located in gently rolling mountains in the prefecture's southwest, its fog and day-night temperature swings are said to have long suited tea cultivation.
- Origin: Saga Ureshino
- By growing region
- About 940 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Centered on Ureshino City in the mountains of southwestern Saga Prefecture, this region is known for producing the curled, comma-shaped tamaryokucha, or guricha. Its gently rolling mountains, dense fog, and day-night temperature swings and sunlight conditions are said to have long suited tea cultivation. The curled leaves are said to unfurl slowly in the teapot, releasing umami as they open. The curled leaf unfurls slowly in hot water, said to release a fresh aroma and rich umami gradually, with steamed and pan-fired versions differing in how the aroma comes through.
How it's made
Both steamed and pan-fired tamaryokucha are said to have been made here. Skipping the final straightening step leaves the round shape, said to suit a style of drinking where the leaf unfurls slowly in the pot, drawing out umami gradually. Steamed versions are said to use about the same steam heat as sencha, while pan-fired versions are roasted quickly in a kettle near 300°C as a guide.
Why it took this shape
In Kyushu, where pan-firing is said to have arrived from China, Ureshino is considered one of the areas where that technique took hold. The combination of a foggy mountain climate and long-standing pan-firing skill is said to have made it a region built around this rounded style of tea, distinct from other areas. Ureshino sits in basin-like terrain ringed by the Tara mountain range, said to favor river mist, and this climate together with pan-firing skill is said to have nurtured a tea distinct to the area.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Enjoying a bussanten (regional products fair)A guide to what's sold at a bussanten (regional products fair), how to find one, when it gets crowded, shelf life and taking food home, and how to fit one around a trip.
- How to use an antenna shopA guide to what's sold at an antenna shop, its restaurant or eat-in counters, its tourist-information role, the cluster of shops around Ginza and Yurakucho, and how to use one before a trip or for last-minute souvenirs.
Dishes in the same style
- Ise-chaA Mie Prefecture tea region said to rank among the country's largest in both growing area and production. Kabusecha in particular, centered on the northern Hokusei area, is said to lead the nation in output, prized for its rich umami and sweetness.
- Kagoshima-chaA Kagoshima tea region said to lead the country in raw tea (aracha) production. While the yabukita cultivar dominates nationwide, Kagoshima grows a wider range of varieties, said to allow tea-making tailored to different regions and demands.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Saga
- Ara no SugataniA grouper weighing ten kilos or more is simmered whole in a giant pot over the better part of a day — the showpiece of the hospitality dishes women prepare for guests during the Karatsu-kunchi festival, said to have started as a postwar display of one-upmanship.
- FunankoguiCrucian carp, wrapped whole in kelp, simmers for hours with daikon and other roots until even the bones turn soft — a winter protein source from the lean season on the Ariake Sea, and in Kashima, an offering to the god of good fortune at New Year.
- Futsu MochiPounded mochi is worked through with boiled mugwort and wrapped around sweet bean paste — where much of Japan offers diamond-shaped rice cakes at the Doll Festival, parts of Saga offer this mugwort mochi instead, and it doubles as a snack marking spring's arrival.
- Go DofuSoy milk is set not with nigari but kudzu starch, giving this Arita specialty a softer, glossier bite than ordinary tofu — served with sesame-soy as a side, or with black sugar syrup and soybean flour as a dessert.
- Hoshigaki NamasuJulienned daikon and dried persimmon are tossed with vinegar, yuzu juice, and soy — from Saga's Matsubai district, where curtains of drying persimmons hanging under the eaves mark the fall, and this dish is said to appear alongside New Year's osechi.
- Ika no KakeaeSquid, daikon, and carrot are tossed in a vinegared miso dressing thick with ground sesame — a style of dish found across Japan, but called 'kakeae' in Saga, where fatty mackerel sometimes stands in for squid at autumn festivals.