What shading means
Tencha bushes are shaded for roughly 20 to 30 days before harvest, with light reduced in stages until very little reaches the leaves. This stress slows photosynthesis and pushes the plant to keep more L-theanine and chlorophyll, which produces the deep green color and umami flavor of good matcha. Oishita refers to fully shaded tencha and gyokuro fields, while kabuse describes lighter, shorter shading often used for kabusecha.
Also called
Shading also appears as oishita, kabuse, covered cultivation.