Hiroaki Kondo
(Iuchi, Ikawa Town in Miyoshi City)

Tea plantations on mountain slopes are distributed throughout the Iuchi district of Ikawa Town in Miyoshi City.

Tea cultivation has flourished on steep mountain slopes in this area; however, fewer people can manage their tea plantations because of population aging.

Under such circumstances, to revive local tea as a specialty product, Mr. Hiroaki Kondo of Kondo LLC began managing tea farms in this district for older people who could no longer grow tea.

Mr. Kondo and his father manage eight tea farmlands from five retired farmers, including his tea farm near his house and some farms on the opposite side of the valley.

The fields are covered with abundant Kaya fertilizer and are cultivated without herbicides or pesticides.

According to Mr. Kondo, the astringency and aroma of tea are slightly different between the east and west sides when they are divided by the valley because of the different amounts of sunlight.

Therefore, they are sold as two different products so that people can enjoy the differences in taste between the eastern and western sides of the mountains.

Mr. Kondo also hopes to revitalize depopulated villages by offering other ways to use tea apart from as a beverage and hands-on tourism, which takes advantage of the beautiful landscape of tea farms.