This area is famous for Sakurajima which is an active volcano island. Kagoshima is the second largest green tea production region in Japan, but they get volcanic ash in the air daily that causes some problems for tea leaves. Their tea process has to wash the ash from the tea and dry it before the tea is processed.
This is Sakurajima, the source of ash in the air.
I couldn’t believe a washing machine for tea until I visited Kagoshima – yes, green tea from Kagoshima is washed and very clean.
This washing machine was invented for Kagoshima tea.
A special dryer for tea leaves – impressive with Japanese technology!
Now, the washed clean tea needs to steam.
