Kenichi Natural Tea Farm - Nara
Photo: Kenichi Natural Farm
Behind the economic boom starting from early 80’s, Japan has sacrificed many things that had been cherished and taken care by the ancestors. Kenichi was the one of young persons who were resent such reality at his early age. He took his feeling deeply into think what he could do for the world and to recover the nature.
During the high school, he encountered the documentary film about the natural farming regend, Masanobu Fukuoka. Since then he got to explore the world of natural farming. The natural farming is more than organic: it’s not only about the agricultural method to grow the plants naturally, but also the philosophy and respect toward a ‘‘life’’. It’s literally natural, not only without pesticide, but also without any organic fertiliser. The nature can recover themselves and live alone together, as soon as the whole cycle and the harmony come back again.
After learning and practicing at the different natural farms during the high school, he borrowed 3300m2 tea field and became a natural tea farmer right after the hight school at the age of 18.
But that field had been abandoned for many years (it was almost a forest) and what he had to do first is to cultivate this ‘‘forest’’ to return it to a tea field. Looking back that time now, it was crazy to cultivate 3300m2 alone, but young Kenichi somehow managed with some help.
After 16 years from then, he’s became one of the biggest tea farmers in Nara, producing 17 tons of tea per year managing almost 12 hectares of tea fields.
¨The soil can automatically recover without any artificial support, as soon as it takes back the natural circulation and harmony. Humans tend to do unnecessary things that actually damage the self-recovery process of nature. The soil has originally the power to grow the plants without any fertiliser. Only if we pay attention not to break the harmony and the cycle of nature, they can live alone together in the bio diversity.’’ he says.
The best seller of Kenichi farm is *Sannen Bantcha, which is harvested in winter and roasted in the open log fire that were cut from the local trees with the intention to maintain the forest. This tea contains the Yang energy to keep body warm in the cold season. Sannen means 3 years: they harvest from at least 3 year-old tea trees, including twigs: the twigs have even more energy from the soil. Many tea farms have less work during winter, as the harvest is normally ended by summer, but for this Sannen Bantcha, they have work during winter. The ideal cycle of life is happening in the surrounding of Kenichi’s farm, not only in the nature, but also in the human world.
*Sannen Bancha has more than one interpretations and it varies depending on the region. Here I’m introducing Sannen Bancha which Kenichi learned from the farmer in Kyushu.
Kenichi’s goal is to create a world where all creatures can live together including small insects and bacterias without being disturbed by human. And of course there is no war in a such world.
With his tea farm, he wants to proves it. By showing his business model to the other natural farmers and young people who intend to start up natural farms, he purely believes that we can achieve a such harmonised world together.
