The Yaeho (やえほ) cultivar is quite old. It was registered in 1954.
It is used for sencha and gyokuro.
However, this cultivar is very scarce and it isn’t being propagated much because tea farmers prefer to plant other tea cultivars.
History of Yaeho
This cultivar comes from seeds selected from an older cultivar with the same name, although written 八重穂 in Japanese.
The best seedling was registered as cultivar number 17 in 1954, under the name Yaeho.
The original Yaeho was found in Shizuoka prefecture by Sugiyama Hikosaburō, who is famous for discovering the Yabukita cultivar.
Note that the original cultivar is often referred to as Sugiyama Yaeho, which is different from Yaeho.
Characteristics of Yaeho
There isn’t much information about this cultivar online.
Yaeho is an early budding cultivar with great vigor.
It has a very high yield at harvest.
The leaves are thick and medium in size.
While this cultivar is strong against cold weather, it is susceptible to a fungal disease known as the white scab.
As a sencha, it has a good shape and quality, with an aroma of chestnuts.
December 17, 2022
What is a shame, is the over planting of the Yabukita cultivar, and the diminishment of other varieties due to the extra work involved with older cultivars. With their loss, is the great loss of flavor such as oceanic which I have not seen in years…
The over planting of Yabukita is going to be regretted one day…
December 17, 2022
Hi Aaron
Yes, it’s a shame. But it’s also a matter of more people drinking single cultivar tea, which would naturally drive up demand for other cultivars.