Rare ‘gold-green’ tea leaves ready for picking in Shizuoka Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:00 JST, May 2, 2022

Vibrantly colored tea plants are seen at the Kogane Midori Chaen tea garden in Shizuoka on Monday. “Hachijuhachiya,” traditionally the busiest period of the year for tea pickers, fell on the day. The cultivar, named Kogane Midori — literally, “gold-green” — is a result of a mutation propagated from cuttings taken by the garden’s tea master, Hiromitsu Sato. According to Sato, tea made from the leaves has a pale yellow color and a richer, sweeter taste than ordinary tea.