Ohyama Yoshitaka 大山良貴
4th generation
Location : Sonogi
Farm size : 9 ha
The Ohyama family has been in the tea business for over a century. Before joining his parents on the fields, Ohyama Yoshitaka 大山良貴 used to work in a record store in Shibuya (Tokyo) where he cultivated a passion for soul, jazz and reggae. During his mid twenties, he decided to go back to Sonogi, his home town, taking part in music events while actively helping to make tea.
Farmer Ohyama took over the family business at 38 as the fourth generation of the Ohyama tea business succeeding his award winning father, Ohyama Jisaku. Economic challenges have inspired him to build a more lively and younger image for tea. He created Charaku 茶楽, a cafe/shop located in the beautiful heights of Sonogi where tourists and locals can enjoy brews of high grade tea and purchase directly in-store. Since 2013, Ohyama has been doubling down on collaborating with other tea farmers to increase Sonogi tea’s influence in Japan as well as abroad.
The latest project born from these collaborations is Forthees. In 2018, Ohyama and three other farmers (Fukuda, Nakayama and Onoue) joined forces building a tencha factory to produce high grade and cooking grade matcha. The Forthees traditional (brick furnace) tencha factory is the only one in Nagasaki prefecture, and many local cafe’s across Nagasaki proudly label any sweets or drinks made with Forthees matcha as “Sonogi cha” on their menu’s: celebrating the only locally produced traditional style matcha.
Ohyama crafts tamaryokucha, Sonogi tea region’s speciality, using different cultivars including: saemidori, tsuyuhikari and yabukita cultivars. In the cup, his teas reveal a bold umami flavour along with lingering fruity and nutty aromas. In 2020, farmer Ohyama won the national tea competition called Norinsuisan Daijin Sho (農林水産大臣賞). The award is given by the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forest and Fishery and is one of the highest prizes in the Japanese tea world.
Ohyama is highly regarded locally, and his efforts for spreading recognition for the Sonogi tea region have not gone unnoticed as we often meet tea farmers from other regions who know his name.
Occasionally, at local social events outside of harvest season, you may still find Ohyama behind the turntables.