Japanese Tea Report – January 2025

By SimonaTea Reports

The global popularity of Japanese tea has been steadily increasing. Last year, Shizuoka’s tea exports rose by 17.5%. In addition to that, one of the largest tea companies, Ito En, also recently signed a partnership agreement with Major League Baseball in the United States to expand its tea sales in North America. The company had already been collaborating with Shohei Ohtani and will now feature other baseball players in its advertisements as well.

Due to the declining domestic interest in tea and rising international demand for matcha, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries is considering a policy review to encourage tea farmers to shift from producing sencha to tencha. The ministry will hold several expert review meetings until March to finalize its core policy for 2025.

At last year’s Nihoncha Award competition, the grand prize was awarded to Kanaya Midori oolong tea from Kagoshima. The tea’s producer, Arimura Seicha, visited the prefectural governor in January to report the achievement. In the national tea competition, Kurazumi-san, a tea farmer from Yame, won first place for gyokuro for the second consecutive year. During his visit to the prefectural office in December, he expressed concern over the lack of successors in the industry. Meanwhile, tea farmers from Ureshino City in Saga Prefecture secured top awards in the  Tamaryokucha and Kamairicha categories for the second year in a row.

Among new product developments, a freeze-dried tea was patented in Kagoshima. Research began in 2020, and after multiple refinements, the final recipe was perfected. The tea dissolves instantly in cold water, delivering a flavor that mimics freshly brewed tea. In Shimada City, a tote bag featuring the city’s green tea plan has been produced to raise awareness among younger generations through daily use. Additionally, to restore and preserve one of Japan’s oldest tea fields (planted 1,200 years ago by Saichō in Shiga) Hiyoshi Shrine has launched a crowdfunding campaign. Supporters will have their names engraved on plaques at the tea field.

In Kyoto, the major tea company Fukujuen is opening a tea-themed park in Kizugawa City. While the are already housed a museum of tea tools, a new facility showcasing tea-making machinery has been added. The park is set to open in March. In Saitama, Iruma City is also working to develop tea tourism, introducing 11 new experiences, including tea blending and dyeing with tea. Another innovation in tea tourism is a new travel route connecting Haneda and Narita airports to Shizuoka, where visitors can engage in Japanese tea-making experiences, among other activities.

The year has already begun with numerous tea-related events. On 6h January, Fukujuen hosted the first tea-picking event of the year at its greenhouse tea garden in Kizugawa City. The first hand-rolling event took place in Shizuoka on 7th January, with the finished tea presented to local centenarians as a wish for longevity. Additionally, the first wholesaler tea shipment ceremony was held in Uji City on 4th January. Many more events are expected in the coming months.

 

*The article is based on Japanese media articles:

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