Tokushima

Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku is the home of Awabancha — a lacto-fermented bancha tea produced primarily in Kamikatsu (Katsuura district) and Naka (formerly the Aioi area in Naka district). The Awa name preserves the prefecture's pre-Meiji name. Production is small-scale and family-based; recent research has identified up to 30 different lactobacillus species involved in the fermentation, making Awabancha one of the most microbially complex teas studied scientifically.