Machine-Harvesting Japanese Green Tea (shin-cha)

[jameswray50]

I will not be buying from them

[jpdmk]

Fuck -up i need to see it closely how it works.

[WaruiTanuki]

It looks to me like it's shaving off the outer layer of leaves, leaving the bush intact. Wouldn't a combine destroy the bush?

[softypapa]

@WaruiTanuki Thanks for watching. This machine operates just like a hedge trimmer. There is a stationary cutting edge against which a sliding blade moves back and forth across numerous serrated teeth. An interesting aspect of the design is that the whole cutting mechanism is curved into the graceful shape you see with the tea plants. Flat cutters are available as well though only a small number of farmers use these. ~Kurt :-)

[itsumonihon]

dang, you know these guys could buy a machine combine harvester to do this for around 500,000yen (like 5000usd) and save a lot of work on wages each year!

[shaada100]

@itsumonihon True but a combine harvester is more environmentally damaging than that machine =]

[itsumonihon]

not necessarily, in the grand scheme of things, and since the guy is wearing no hearing protection it's really bad for him to operate like this. they could do all of their fields with a small combine in an hour or so. no hearing loss either.

[allgoo19]

This probably the kind of tea I buy, cheapest. ^_^

I saw other videos seemingly high end priced tea production, detailed every step of the way. It kinda justifies the price difference.

I still like the taste of the tea I drink though.

[SlurpeePerson]

is this were most of the worlds te acome sfrom??

[alicetoo]

. . . and do they wear protection for their ears?

[softypapa]

I've never seen anyone wearing ear protection...

[alicetoo]

Ohhh, not as quiet and peaceful as the gentleman on top of the mountain. Thanks!

[hlhover]

That was totally fascinating! I have never seen this before! Thanks for sharing!!

[Takeru1983]

An insightful video to green tea harvesting! keep the great uploads coming Kurt! Thanks!