A Village Contest in Telling Teas Apart
The Joshu Shirakubo Ochako Tea-Tasting Contest (上州白久保のお茶講, Joshu Shirakubo no Ochako) is a contest in identifying teas by taste, handed down in Shirakubo, Nakanojo Town, Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture, which in 1990 was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies it as a custom, with the Shirakubo Ochako Preservation Society as the body responsible for it.
The Agency explains that tea-tasting contests called ochako were once found across the Agatsuma district of Gunma but have mostly died out; in Shirakubo, in the former Nakanojo Town, the custom continues.
How the Contest Works
According to the Agency, tea is first offered at Shirakubo Tenmangu Shrine, and participants then taste four kinds of tea and try to tell them apart. It is said that a year with many perfect scores, or many who get none right, brings a good harvest.
The Nakanojo tourism association explains that roasted and powdered shibucha green tea, amacha sweet hydrangea tea and chinpi dried mandarin peel are blended into four mixtures, which participants taste and identify.
The association adds that ochako is said to be closely related to tocha, a tea-tasting game played around the mid-fourteenth century, in which players guessed teas by aroma and flavour.
Why It Matters
While most of the ochako once spread across Agatsuma have vanished, the Shirakubo Ochako continues as part of a shrine festival. The Agency records the survival of this tea-tasting contest here.
Reading the year's harvest from the results is another distinctive feature: a game of tea has been woven into the village festival and its harvest divination.
Seeing the Shirakubo Ochako
According to the Nakanojo tourism association, the ochako is held every year on 24 February as the eve festival of Shirakubo Tenmangu Shrine.
As a community festival, check in advance with the Nakanojo tourism association (0279-75-8814) whether and when visitors can watch.
Q&A
- When was the Shirakubo Ochako designated?
- It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property on 29 March 1990.
- What is an ochako?
- A contest in tasting several teas and identifying which is which.
- What teas are used in the Shirakubo Ochako?
- Four blends of roasted and powdered green tea, sweet hydrangea tea and dried mandarin peel, according to the Nakanojo tourism association.
- When is the Shirakubo Ochako held?
- Every year on 24 February, as the eve festival of Shirakubo Tenmangu Shrine.
- How is the Shirakubo Ochako linked to the harvest?
- A year with many perfect scores or many complete misses is said to bring a good harvest.
Basic Information
| Name | Joshu Shirakubo Ochako Tea-Tasting Contest (上州白久保のお茶講) |
|---|---|
| Location | Shirakubo, Nakanojo Town, Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (custom) |
| Year Designated | Designated 1990/3/29 (Heisei 2) |
| Quantity | Not recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Dimensions | Not recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Owner | Preservation body: Shirakubo Ochako Preservation Society |
| Public Access | Held every year on 24 February (eve festival of Shirakubo Tenmangu) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs Database: Joshu Shirakubo Ochako (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/302/36
- Cultural Heritage Online: Joshu Shirakubo Ochako (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/160761
- Nakanojo Tourism Association: Shirakubo Ochako (Japanese)
- https://nakanojo-kanko.jp/events/%E7%99%BD%E4%B9%85%E4%BF%9D%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E8%8C%B6%E8%AC%9B/
Last verified: 2026.09.28