In the misty mountains of Kizugawa, Kyoto, Yuichi Morita continues a family legacy of tea that spans four generations. After high school, he moved to Shizuoka to study at Japan’s national tea industry college, driven by a desire to deepen the craft his parents had passed down.

His home region, Jindōji, known as Fusedani—“a valley with little sunshine”—offers ideal conditions for matcha. The constant fog and natural shade nurture leaves rich in sweetness and umami.

Yuichi carefully shades his fields to soften sunlight, harvesting tender leaves that are slowly ground on stone mills to preserve their vivid color and aroma. Each year brings new challenges, but his approach remains the same: to listen to the rhythm of nature and protect the true essence of Kyoto’s matcha.