Win-win relationship between people and the environment
"Tea-grass farming method in Shizuoka".

Ingenuity and ingenuity are added to the possibilities of nature.

"Tea-grass farming method" is a traditional farming method in which pampas grass and bamboo grass are laid in the furrows of a tea plantation, and it used to be a common satoyama landscape that was seen everywhere in Japan. Due to the modernization of agriculture and people's lives, this farming method has been steadily decreasing, and is currently being continued only in the limited areas of Kakegawa City, Kikugawa City, Shimada City, Makinohara City, and Kawanehon Town in Shizuoka Prefecture. A typical example is the Higashiyama district in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Around the tea plantation in the Higashiyama district of Kakegawa City, there is a zone called "tea grass field" where grassy areas are scattered in a mosaic pattern. In the fall, we mow the grass in this tea plantation, bundle the grass, dry it, and lay it in the tea plantation. This softens the soil and improves the quality of the tea, so tea farmers have taken the time to follow this farming method. The scenery of the tea plantation where this tea plantation is located is a symbolic landscape that makes visitors feel "tea and Shizuoka".

① Mow the grass

Mow the grass such as Japanese pampas grass and bamboo grass in the tea grass field from autumn to winter

② Bundle the cut grass

Bundle the cut grass with grass or a string

③ Dry

Stand the bundled grass and let it dry for a few days. Locally called "Kapposhi"

④ Spread the tea plantations

Spread the dried grass in the field

Making delicious tea leads to the happiness of living things.

Tea grass fields that are maintained and managed by humans are called "semi-natural grasslands" and are home to many species. In recent surveys, more than 300 types of grassland flowers coexist, of which 9 endangered species have been confirmed, and the feature is that biodiversity is maintained. In addition, it is thought that applying grass to the tea plantation has the effects of adjusting soil temperature, retaining soil moisture, controlling weeds, preventing the runoff of soil and fertilizer, and supplying organic matter. In Higashiyama's tea plantations, this organic matter-laden humus soil, which is rich in microorganisms, grows tasty and fragrant tea.

Grey-faced Buzzard (Accipitridae)
NPO Shizuoka Prefectural Natural History Museum Network

Dianthus

Plants found in tea-grass fields include typical Japanese pampas grass, Sasayuri, and Japanese bellflower, as well as endangered species such as Fujitaigeki and Kinran. Since the grass is mowed regularly at the tea plantation, the sun shines on the ground without large plants growing, making it an environment where various plants that are vulnerable to survival competition can easily inhabit. There are also many animals such as antelopes and rare insects such as the endangered Melanoplinae.

"Shizuoka Tea-grass Farming Method" certified as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site.

In 2013, "Shizuoka Tea-grass Farming Method" was recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site. Globally Important Agricultural Heritage is recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a globally important agriculture, forestry and fisheries system for the purpose of preserving the declining traditional agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry, cultural customs and biodiversity. It is a system that has been established. "Shizuoka's tea-grass farming method" is nothing but a proof that it is recognized as a very rare case in the world where the farmer's efforts and efforts to make good tea are compatible with biodiversity.

Furthermore, the "tea grass field" has a strong awareness of being a shared property of the region, and it is also highly evaluated that it is maintained by mutual aid such as supplementing labor. The thoughts of the farmers in this area working together to make tea have continued to protect the environment of the grasslands of the satoyama, which is being lost from Japan. And it is our mission to pass on this tea-grass farming method, which has been passed down from generations to generations and has faced the power of nature for 150 years, to the next generation.

World Agricultural Heritage Shizuoka Tea-grass Farming Method
https://www.chagusaba.jp