Farmers start harvesting green-tea leaves near Tokyo

Farmers in an area near Tokyo have started to pick this year’s crop of tea leaves as green tea harvest begins. The specialty of the city of Sayama is green tea. Farmers have started collecting new buds of a variety called “Fukumidori.”

The farms are expecting a normal-size harvest this year, due to continuing warm weather this month. Sayama-branded green tea is also grown in other cities in the western part of Saitama Prefecture. The picking season will go into full swing from May 1.