TeaHQ

Takachiho

A Kyushu cultivar named for the Takachiho area of Miyazaki, and one of the plants used in kamairicha — the pan-fired Japanese green tea made in parts of Miyazaki, Kumamoto and Saga rather than steamed like the rest of the country’s production. Kamairicha is a reminder that the steaming that defines Japanese green tea is a regional practice that won, not a national inevitability.

たかちほCamellia sinensis var. sinensisJapan

Where it sits in the botany

Takachiho is recorded under Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, the variety group one level above cultivar. It is associated with Japan, which is where it was selected or is most widely planted rather than the only place it grows.

Also transliterated as: takachiho.

Where it came from

A selection propagated in the Kyushu tea districts, including areas where pan-firing rather than steaming is practised.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. Breeding date and parentage were not verified against a primary source.

What the plant is like

Vigorous Kyushu material that holds up to pan-firing, which imposes different demands on a leaf than steaming does — more mechanical handling in the hot pan, and a slower, drier heat.

What it is usually made into

The categories this cultivar is typically processed into. It is a statement about common practice, not a limit — processing decides the category, and a cultivar can be taken down more than one route.

  • Green tea — Tea whose oxidation is halted early by heat, keeping the leaf green and the cup fresh, vegetal or marine in character.

Teas in the catalogue made from Takachiho

Other cultivars in Camellia sinensis var. sinensis

Sources

  • TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ

This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No breeding register or institutional record stands behind the account above, which is why the origin note carries its confidence in the open rather than reading as a citation.

How TeaHQ handles sources