The Tasty Tea of Sonogi on Kyushu Island

Now that I had successfully made it to the University of Nagasaki, I spent my first two weeks there studying, venturing out on trips inside the city only. Then my husband came to visit, so we hired a car and went to explore the countryside. One of my wish list activities was to taste Sonogi tea and learn more about this growing region just outside Nagasaki.

Generally, having spent six weeks in Nagasaki, I think Kyushu is a wonderful yet really underrated tourist destination. Western Kyushu can easily keep you occupied for two weeks and more, from the vibrant city of Fukuoka, to beaches, mountains, the relaxed city of Nagasaki with its beautiful scenery and volcanoes and hot springs galore.

Let’s start right outside Nagasaki, along  beautiful Omura Bay. After visiting the  Knifesmith of Matsubara, we went up into the hills, admiring the verdant greens of thick forest interspersed with carefully groomed tea plantations.

Where is Higashi Sonogi?

Higashi Sonogi is a small town of about 8000 people in Omura Bay in Western Kyushu and also the name of the surrounding area with its tea plantation which are all higher up than the commercial centre of Sonogi right by Omura Bay. It has a regular train connection to Nagasaki (via Isahaya) and Sasebo. The nearest Shinkansen Stations are either Shin-Omura or Shin-Ureshino, both 10-15km way.

Its location between the maritime Omura Bay and hills steeply rising from sea level, paired with the Southern Japanese temperate subtropical climate,  makes this a good climate for growing tea.

Tea of Sonogi

Higashi Sonogi is the largest tea growing region of Nagasaki, accounting for just over half the tea produced in Nagasaki region. There are about 300 families farming tea commercially, from fields near the sea side to the slopes and peaks of the surrounding hill side. The proximity to the sea mineral rich sea air makes tea of Sonogi quite special. Pretty much all tea output is green tea, and traditionally, the tea here gets picked, deeply steamed to prevent oxidation, and dried and sorted and, if necessary, blended.

Many tea growers sell their own brand and blends, and a few have formed cooperatives, of which Forthees is probably the best known – or the one with the most active English language marketing.

Our visit to Ooyamaseichaen Tea Gardens

With a car, it was quite easy to pick a tea garden and enjoy the scenery as well. From Matsubara, we drove up a tiny winding countryside  road, where the scenery quickly changed from the suburban houses of Omura Bay to tiny hamlets in dense forests, interspersed with orderly tea gardens. We noticed large electric ventilators hovering over the  rows of tea bushes – they are used in winter time to prevent frost damage to the early new leaves in spring time, by pushing the slightly warmer air back down.

After half an hour of pleasant if somewhat windy-road driving and crossing a plateau, we descend into a little valley and finally our maps led us to Ooyamaseichaen, a family tea producer in a small hamlet, They have a lovely spacious shop-with tea house and were really welcoming.

After ensuring our car was parked safely, we were ushered in a small seating area amid tea bags and decorations and served a small cup of very herby-bitter tasting tea with a sweet. I loved it, my husband quickly poured his portion into my teacup. He loved going out in the countryside and seeing “how people live” and how the tea is produced, but as much as I tried, he is not a green tea drinker.

Then someone came over and gave us a “menu” in Japanese, meaning all the teas that are currently available, their flavour profile and a price list. We were served some more tea, while we could place an order which was then lovingly assembled and packed. But there is absolutely no pressure to buy. This was a situation where I regretted not speaking more Japanese, because it would have been fairly easy there to learn a lot more about tea, and they were no particularly busy on a week day and quite pleased to see visitors.

So, last not least, we toured the area a bit, admired the unfenced tea fields slowly made our way down the valley and towards Ureshino.

Other tea-centred activities

I really wanted to take part in a tour to learn more about how green tea  is produced and these tours do exist, but you have to book ahead usually.

Some tea farmers offer a homestay through the Higashisonogi Municipality and the Tourism Association, but I found them rather difficult to access.

Sorisso Riso is an old rice storage barn turned into cafe, restaurant and coworking space who have many regional projects going, so if you speak Japanese, they may be able to direct you.

Last not least, Okada Shokai is a long established tea shop in the centre of Higashi Sonogi who do offer tastings and tea ceremonies and possibly tours to their production facilities if given appropriate notice.

A very brief chapter on tea types and brewing Japanese tea

The good thing is, if you visit a tea garden, you will invariably be served the current brew, free of charge, to try and -if you like it- buy.

The tea that Japan is known for and that is served on most occasions, is a green tea called sencha. Usually harvested in full sun, its it picked between April and August, with the earlier harvest considered the most aromatic. During the processing the leaves tend to get steamed, rolled, and dried. Brewed at 60-80 degree Celsius, a good sencha can be brewed 2-3 times and contains about 40mg of caffeine which is about average. For comparison, a serving of espresso coffee contains about 200mg caffeine.

Above is a selection of green Japanese tea I purchased in my local supermarket before visiting Sonogi. If you happen to visit Nagasaki, the supermarket right by the “Atomic Bomb Museum) tram stop sold these.

On the left, a sencha from Saga prefecture sold under the “Ureshino” location of origin. The brewing temperature is 70-80Celsius.

In the middle, a sencha from the remote Goto Islands with some rather confusing brewing instructions but al brewing temperature of 70-80 Celsius too.

Last not least a Forthees tea of Sonogi blended sencha tea.

Types of tea

Much in fashion recent years it matcha. this is powdered green tea made from shaded, young leaves and the proper “ceremonial” matcha is quite pricey and contains between 130 and 270mg of caffeine. Yes, that’s right – thick matcha is more caffeinated than a shot of espresso. Matcha is made from young specially selected shaded leaves that are ground to a fine powder after steaming and drying. Ceremonial matcha is the frothy bright green tea served in beautiful ceremonial bowls, with the highest level of caffeine and antioxidants, while culinary matcha is much cheaper and used to make matcha flavouring in food and matcha -flavoured drinks.

Another high quality tea is gyokuro, made from fine young leaves that are shaded prior to harvesting. It is pricey and contains more caffeine than sencha.

Some “fun” teas you may come across and which are super cheap in Japan are hojicha, kukicha, genmaicha and bancha.

Kukicha is also called “twig tea” as its made from small twigs of the tea plant rather than leaves. It has a nutty flavour and very little caffeine.

Hojicha is roasted lower-grade sencha or bancha tea leaves which has a flavour a bit closer to Western style “black” tea.

Genmaicha is a mix of tea leaves and roasted brown rice, sometimes mixed with lower grade matcha and also has a nice roasted deep taste and less caffeine than sencha. Last not least, bancha is a green tea made from the larger tea leaves and is considered an “everyday” green tea with less caffeine than sencha. This type is usually served in restaurants for free in Japan as “ocha” .  The

And the healthiest green tea? If you can deal with the caffeine, that would be matcha, as it contains the highest level of antioxidants.

As for preparation, use soft or filtered water and brew higher quality tea at 60-80 Celsius, and the less expensive ones at 80-90 Celsius. Here is a better guide how to brew Japanese tea properly – I admit I am still in the experimental stages of this and I was mostly a genmaicha drinker who brewed at full whack 100Celsius before coming to Japan.

Where to buy  Sonogi Tea

If you visit the area, there are at least ten tea shops in Higashisonogi town along the major roads. The tea farms themselves, if you seek them out on a drive through the hills, usually have at least a small shop, if not a tea house for tasting.  Also, supermarkets as far as Nagasaki and Fukuoka will have a decent selection of Higashisonogi teas especially from larger or well-known producers. Expect to pay about 500-800 JPY (3-6 Euro) for a decent sized packet (80-100grams) good quality sencha.

The less premium teas like genmaicha, kukicha and hojicha are often sold in larger packets (200-400grams)  by the producers and cost roughly half to a third of a decent sencha – but prices can vary.

The absolute crown, the ceremonial matcha can be had for as little as 500 JPY for 30-40grams, whereas culinary matcha is ridiculously cheap in Japan, about 70-150JPY.  It is not the most common tea to come out of Higashisonogi and not many tea plantations offer it. If you are lucky, you may find it in supermarkets also. I bought some in Nagasaki from Forthees which is a cooperative, for 500 JPY for a small bag of 30grams.

But the good news is that tea of Sonogi is being exported worldwide now. Formerly just sold under “tea from Nagasaki” or “Ureshino Tea”, the newer generation of tea farmers are keen to market Sonogi tea as a premium brand, often green organically, producing high grade sencha and increasingly, high grade matcha tea as well. It might be worth asking in your local tea shop – my “fancy tea shop” where I sometimes buy actually sells tea from Ooyamaseichaen .

I wanted to have some everyday drinking tea for work where I can just boil the kettle and pour it on.

Above are my cheaper everyday teas I purchased at Ooyamaseichaen.  Firstly, a hojicha (roasted bancha grade green tea). I can’t remember the price, but it wasn’t much.  wanted kukicha (twigs tea) but I got confused with the nomenclature.

The larger bag is a big packet of genmaicha, the green tea mixed with roasted rice and a small amount f matcha. I bought a larger pack because I drink genmaicha a lot.

The other two teas of Ooyamaseichaen. The Hojicha from above got in the picutre again. In the middle, a sencha from a relatively low altitude. On the right, a local blend of tamaryokucha (high-grade tea that gets processed as a leaf and for which Ureshino and Sonogi tea are famous), blended with matcha and roasted rice. This one is good for cold brew as well.

How to get to Higashi Sonogi and where to stay

To be honest, it is best to hire a car for any trips outside larger towns and cities in the region of Nagasaki.

I book the majority of hotels using Booking.com, but it works well for car hire, too!  I booked a car with Nissan Car Rental. A Nissan, of course, small but comfortable for two of us, very easy to drive. The automatic transmission and strict road rules and speed limits made driving in rural Kyushu a no-brainer. You will need an International Driving Permit (IDP)  to hire and drive a car in Japan unless you have a Japanese Licence. Some people said an official translation of your home licence may work, but an IDP is probably cheaper and more versatile.

Safely installed in the car, it’s about a 45-minute drive from Nagasaki, longer if you take scenic routes to visit tea gardens, which I highly recommend. The town of Sonogi has loads of tea shops along the major roads (Routes 34 and 205) but you need to leave the Nagasaki Expressway at Higashisonogi Interchange.

Higashisonogi, being a small farming town, doesn’t have many accommodations, but I found this very pretty traditional residence right by the Omura Bay y called Saitoyukuba.

Since I was  short-term resident of  Nagasaki, I kept my Nagasaki ryokan room and went on a daytrip.  Our modern Ryokan, the “Relaxing Inn Origami”  was located in a nice neighbourhood yet just 10 minutes walk from the car hire place, and had a garage where we could safely park our hire car  for an extra 500 JPY per night.

If you wish to stay near Nagasaki Airport, Enzo Ikeda is an extremely modern Japanese Inn with a very interesting aesthetic and good pricing.

And of you want the traditional Japanese Ryokan experience and not break the bank, try nearby Ureshino Onsen about 10km away. Taishoya offers Japanese style rooms, a private on-site onsen, all for about 130 Euro accommodation only. If you intend to make a flying visit, Ureshino is on the Shinkansen line but no longer on the regular line to Matsubara, so would take a 5-minute Shinkansen ride from the resorts of Takeo or Ureshino to Shin-Omura and transfer to a local service there. Anyway, I recommend spending more time here – Ureshino has the famous healing water and a relaxing smalltown vibe, it’s a short hop to the tea gardens of Higashi-Sonogi and on to Matsubara and a day trip from Ureshino is very feasible even if using public transport.

Map

I made a little Kyushu Map which I keep adding to over time as I will hopefully publish a few more posts. I have not included places in Nagasaki.  Because that’s a project for another day – there are simply too many places to recommend that I had the pleasure of visiting over six weeks as a student-tourist.

The Small Print

I visited Higashi Sonogi in May 2023 on a trip from Nagasaki. As usual, I paid for everything myself, and I was not asked to write about my visit.  No sponsors, no payment. All savings from working my regular and freelance jobs. There are some affiliate accommodation links to Booking.com in this post, which means I may earn a small commission if you book using these links. Thank you for reading!

Tea of Sonogi Pin