Japan belongs among the northernmost situated tea producers. Tea is cultivated here especially on the Honshu Island (in its southern part), the Shikoku Island and the Kyushu Island, with their almost ideal climatic conditions for the tea bush growth.

  Although winters are quite cold, snow is rather rare in the tea producing regions. There are two monsoon seasons during the year, the first one comes early in Spring, the other in the monsoon season in June. Also temperatures and sunshine time are quite sufficient, in regions with the warmer climate where the sun heat could deteriorate the young fragile leaves the plantations are usually equipped with systems of electrical fans, which can balance possible temperature fluctuations. The best-quality teas (Gyokuro, Tencha and the highest grades of Sencha) are produced in mountain and high-mountain regions with colder climate and shorter time period of sunshine. Harvests take place four times a year, teas of highest grades are harvested manually, the rest mechanically.

The first harvest (Ichibancha) begins traditionally in the half of April, lasts for 3 weeks and produces high-quality Sencha, represented as Shincha (new tea), valued by Japanese tea lovers the same way as the first Darjeeling harvests are valued by Indian tea lovers.

The second harvest (Nibancha) begins traditionally in the second part of June and lasts for 14 days. Because the leaves grow faster in this period then in the beginning of spring, tea produced in this harvest is regarded as good-class, but only rarely as the first-quality. Anyway this tea compared to Shincha has the advantage of a markedly better lastingness.

The third harvest (Sanbancha or Summer tea) takes place in the break of July and August. In warm and humid environment the large, fast growing leaves are harvested, which other producers do not process and use them only as mulch. However, this harvest is more commonly processed as Bancha tea.