New hand-rolled Japanese tea leaves sell for record 1.96m yen
The indigenous green tea leaves were grown in Fujinomiya
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Your support makes all the difference.In a first, one kg of hand-rolled new Japanese tea leaves sold for a whopping 1.96 million yen (£11,881) in the country’s seasonal inaugural auction on Monday.
A product of Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture, the indigenous green tea leaves were grown in Fujinomiya and sold at the city’s annual Tea Market auction, kickstarting the ceremony.
Officials in the market said that though the production of tea was slower than usual this year, the quality has remained unchanged.
The market “is working hard to ensure it provides delicious tea at fair prices” even as the country was hit by rising fuel and raw materials prices, the market’s president Yasuhide Uchino said at the ceremony, reported Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Situated on the southern coast of Japan, the prefecture is known for its green tea produce.
The auction also saw many happy tea wholesalers who got their hands on the authentic product after rushing to the market in the early hours.
“We were able to acquire tea of good colour and shape,” said Natsuki Wada, a 35-year-old processed-tea wholesaler based in Shizuoka city.
It began successfully when the first bell of transactions rang at 7am with agricultural workers, tea wholesalers, traders and interested customers teaming for the green tea.
Many were seen negotiating for a precious deal with Japan’s “soroban” abacuses and claps thundered the market with the sealing of deals.
According to the Shizuoka Japanese Tea Market, the Shizuoka’s green tea garnered a trading volume of 1,732 kg by 8.10am with the average per kilogram priced at 5,027 yen (£30.4), the report added.
Traders also sold and purchased teas grown outside the Shizuoka prefecture, included teas from Kagoshima prefecture in the southwest and the southern prefecture of Okinawa.
April-end is the time when the tea hand-rolling work peaks.
In 2019, the season’s first auction of Japanese green tea saw a record bid of 1.39m yen (£9,500) for a kg of hand-rolled Sae Midori tea leaves.
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