Haruo Ogose

TEA FARMER INTRODUCTION

Haruo Ogose belongs to a group of farmers (not only tea plants, but all types of food products) who are dedicated to cultivation without pesticides or fertilizers -- organic or otherwise. Truly naturally grown tea leaves, Ogose-san has been farming for some 19 years.

WHY DID YOU START FARMING?

I wanted to do a job that involved nature. When I first started my job, I owned both paddy field and farm. However, I always wanted to work with trees in a mountainous area and because the busy season in paddy field and farming overlapped, I decided to concentrate only on tea. I feel refreshed and purified when I am taking care of the tea plants in a mountainous region surrounded by trees. MESSAGE TO THE WORLD

Simple, pure, and refreshing - not strategic or artificial – is what I want to offer. I want to provide the nature as it is. And this is expressed in the organic, natural flavor of my tea.

• NAME: Haruo Ogose
• LOCATION: 7030-10 Mariko, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka421-0103, JAPAN
• ALTITUDE: Approx 50 - 500 meters (tea fields are located in several different areas)
• SIZE / # of FIELDS: 1.98 hectares / 5.13 acres. I manage tea fields in Shizuoka City, Shimada City, Fujieda City, and Morimachi City.
• TEA PLANT CULTIVAR: Yabukita (やぶきた), Sayama-kaori (さやまかおり), and Zairai (tea plants from seed).
• ESTABLISHED: I devoted myself into the tea farming business in 1994 but it was around 1980 that I started inheriting tea fields grown without pesticides or fertilizers. I gradually expanded from there, managing tea farms located in the mountainous area that is fertile and pesticide free.
• FARMING STYLE: In order to produce tea that is closest to teas grown in the nature, I cultivate without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, chemical synthetic or micro organic materials. Final processing is done at a factory that processes mainly organic products.