The month saw major activity across Japan’s tea industry, led by the 77th Kansai Tea Industry Promotion Conference and the “Kansai Tea Festival in Uji,” held on the 15th November at the Uji City Cultural Center. About 400 participants from six prefectures – Kyoto, Nara, Shiga, Mie, Aichi, and Gifu – attended the ceremony, which included the Kansai Tea Appraisal awards and industry recognitions. Executive Committee Chairman Chotaro Horii noted that “with the matcha boom both domestically and internationally, the amount of tea trade is increasing more than ever before,” stressing the need for practical, forward-looking measures to support producers, exports, and efforts to share the appeal of Japanese tea.
Uji also made news this month with Yasuhiro Morishita, chairman of the Uji Prefectural Tea Cooperative Association, receiving the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays for elevating the Uji tea brand at home and abroad. Morishita played a key role in protecting the Uji name when Chinese companies registered numerous trademarks related to Uji; he led the successful 2021 effort to invalidate the “Kyoto Uji” trademark used in China, preventing consumer confusion and safeguarding the brand’s reputation.
Elsewhere in Kyoto, tea wholesalers and long-established shops reported alarm at steep increases in bancha prices – an unprecedented surge of a low-cost, everyday tea. This directly hits businesses that depend on volume sale and many smaller retailers now fear closures or bankruptcy if the trend persists.
As December approaches, the year-end gift season has begun. Kanazawa department stores are offering sets featuring local specialties such as Kaga bancha, while in Uji, the Tourist Souvenir Association has released a gift lineup that enters both purchasers and recipients into a lottery for a special tea-and-washoku lecture at Chazuna, aiming to attract more domestic visitors.
In Shiga, Koka City producers relaunched their “Gosen-in” stamp project to promote Tsuchiyama and Asamiya teas. Now in its third year, the redesigned shrine-style stamps – sold with each shop’s signature sencha – are intended to appeal on social media, with full collectors receiving Shigaraki-ware chopstick rests.
Ahead of Kawagoe Hachiman Shrine’s 1000th anniversary in 2030, Onobun Seicha, Coedo Brewery, and the shrine’s priests and parishioners are collaborating on new beers made with sencha, hojicha, and wakocha. A final selection will be made this month, and 1,000 liters will be brewed for the celebration.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, new and distinctive tea shops have opened. Chaya Itoen launched its first Shikoku branch inside Matsuyama City Station, located between train platforms. In Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, local tea industry representative Hiroyuki Sakamoto has opened a tea house inside a historic stone storehouse. The café promotes Miyakonojo tea while also serving teas from Gokase (Miyazaki) and Soo (Kagoshima).
Taken together, November underscored both the pressures and the creativity shaping Japan’s tea culture as the industry adapts to shifting markets, rising costs, and renewed interest at home and abroad.
*The article is based on Japanese media articles:
Yasuhiro Morishita of Kyoto Prefectural Tea Cooperative receives Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, Mainishi Shimbun 2025.11.03
A cafe where you can enjoy “Miyakonojo Tea” in a stone storehouse, Yomiuri Shimun 2025.11.06
“Gosenin” (sealed seal) for sale, perfect for a photogenic tea tour of six tea shops, Mainichi Shimbun 2025.11.15
The future of tea is richly fragrant at the Kansai Tea Industry Promotion Conference in Uji, Mainichi Shimbun 2025.11.18
Packed with Uji souvenirs for year-end gifts, Mainichi Shimbun 2025.11.18
Kawagoe Hachiman Shrine celebrates 1,000 years with limited-edition beer made with Kawagoe tea, Mainichi Shimbun 2025.11.18
Kanazawa’s year-end gift sales battle, Nikkei Shimbun 2025.11.19
Shikoku’s first “Chaya Itoen” teahouse, Asahi Shimbun 2025.11.20
Long-established shops in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward are shocked by the rise in bancha tea prices, Kyoto Shimbun 2025.11.22