Hiroshi Amano, the tea producer who doesn't use chemicals

Hiroshi Amano became famous throughout Japan because, in an area notorious for an environmental scandal that occurred in the late 1960s, he managed to produce a unique, completely organic tea, without using any chemicals.

We are in Minamata, where Amano was born in 1975, when the effects of "Minamata disease" were still very evident: between 1932 and 1966, the Chisso petrochemical company discharged water containing methylmercury into the Shiranui Sea, contaminating the entire area with mercury poisoning that gradually increased. All suffered severe symptoms, including difficulty speaking and loss of coordination. After studying agriculture in Kumamoto, Amano took over the reins of the family business, Aumano seicha, specializing in the production of chemical-free tea.

In Japan, the use of chemicals in the production and processing of tea is very widespread: to obtain the intense and sweet flavour typical of fine teas such as Matcha or Gyokuro, growers use large quantities of fertilizers Nitrogenous chemicals. These accelerate the production of amino acids (theanine) in the leaves, giving them a bright green color and an "umami" flavor that's difficult to replicate with organic fertilizers alone, which act much more slowly.

Tea plants in Japan, especially the most widespread variety called Yabukita, are very vulnerable to pests and diseases. In the warmer, more humid plains, where industrial production is concentrated, the use of neonicotinoid insecticides It's common to ensure high and consistent yields. The result: only 5 percent of the tea produced in Japan has authentic organic characteristics.

Amano, despite focusing his operations in an area known worldwide as the epicenter of an environmental disaster, has managed to overturn the paradigm. And all the tea his company produces is made from plants that have never encountered chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Not only that. Amano's latest discovery is a mountain tea, called yamacha, Produced from tea trees that grow wild in the local forests. These trees are likely descendants of plants used for tea in the Middle Ages, which were later abandoned. This wild-produced tea has a unique flavor and is considered one of the most sustainable and natural teas in the world.

Cover photo from Tampura News.