Why Matcha Inquiries Are Flooding In From Overseas - A View From a Remote Japanese Guesthouse in Yame

Hello. My name is Jiro Sakamoto, and I run a small guesthouse called "Sky Tea House" in the remote mountains of Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Though my main business is not tea farming, I manage this renovated old farmhouse as an accommodation, and in recent years, I've been receiving an increasing number of inquiries from overseas about matcha.

This year alone, I have already received over 30 matcha-related inquiries—an unusually high number for a small guesthouse like ours. If we are seeing this level of demand, I can only imagine the situation must be even more intense for tea wholesalers across Japan.

Originally, most inquiries came from the U.S. and Western Europe, but this year, I’ve heard from people in new countries like Thailand, Indonesia, India, Turkey, Slovenia and Ukraine.

What’s most surprising is that nearly all of these messages say the same thing: "I’m looking for high-grade matcha." But in speaking with these guests and potential customers, I’ve realized that their understanding of "high-grade matcha" is quite different from what we traditionally mean in Japan.

Why and When Did the Matcha Boom Start?

The global matcha boom is said to have started in the early 2010s, which coincides with the rise of Instagram. Matcha’s vibrant green color made it a visually appealing ingredient for lattes and desserts, and influencers around the world helped spread its popularity.

The matcha trend was fueled by several factors:

• Its reputation for health benefits, including high levels of vitamins and antioxidants (especially catechins).

• The rise of Instagram and TikTok, where matcha drinks and sweets were seen as visually attractive.

• In health-conscious communities—particularly on the U.S. West Coast—people started seeking vegan, gluten-free, and low-caffeine alternatives to coffee. Matcha became a fashionable lifestyle choice.

  
  

Most consumers didn’t necessarily understand Japanese tea culture or the traditional tea ceremony, but they viewed matcha as stylish and healthy. This perception helped fuel what we now see as a "premium matcha boom."

What Does "High-Grade Matcha" Really Mean in Japan?

In Japan, "high-grade matcha" generally refers to ceremonial grade matcha used in the traditional tea ceremony. It’s a highly refined product made from:

• Tencha, grown in shaded conditions similar to gyokuro (covered cultivation)

• Carefully stone-ground into fine powder

• Known for its vibrant green color, low bitterness, and rich umami flavor

This type of matcha requires intensive labor and specialized equipment, and it must be kept frozen in small cans due to its fragile nature. It accounts for only about 5% of all tea production in Japan, making it extremely rare.

What Foreign Buyers Mean by "High-Grade Matcha"

However, most overseas customers are not looking for matcha to use in a tea ceremony.（only few Matcha enthusiathist do）

From the inquiries I’ve received, people want matcha for:

• Matcha lattes

• Matcha cookies or cakes

• Blending into drinks or smoothies

Part of me wants to shout, "Don’t use high-grade ceremonial matcha for that!"

But in reality, many customers say they want "ceremonial grade," even though their true purpose is culinary. Because they don’t come from a culture that whisks matcha with a chasen, their understanding of "quality" is often limited to color and the fact that it’s made in Japan. and Yame is just famous for high quality of tea because of winning the prize of national competition of green tea in Gyokuro realm

Still, it’s true that lattes made with higher-grade matcha do taste and look better...

The Difference Between Japanese Matcha and Other "Matcha Powders"

I’ve traveled in Asia and found that in China, India, and Sri Lanka, there are many "matcha-like" products on the market. These are often labeled "matcha powder" or "Japanese-style green tea," but in most cases, they’re:

• Not grown under shade

• Not stone-ground (often ground using ball mills)

• Made from different cultivars and manufacturing methods

In short, they are fundamentally different from authentic Japanese matcha.

Because they’re cheap and widely available, many businesses in food and beverage industries use these instead. But there are still customers who distrust these overseas products and want the real thing—Japanese matcha. Perhaps that’s why even my small guesthouse receives these inquiries.

What I could Offer

While I’m not a full-time tea farmer, I do grow tea on reclaimed farmland near my guesthouse. We harvest about 500 kg of fresh leaves per year, which yields about 100 kg of aracha (crude tea).

Like many newcomers to rural life in Kasahara(my village), I grow tea without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers. While I don’t have official JAS organic certification, my production is equivalent in practice. My tea fields are located deep in the mountains.

That said, I do not produce ceremonial grade matcha.

However, I do have a supply of powdered tea made from "off-grade" leaves and smaller batches of naturally grown sencha. We grind this tea into a fine powder using a machine—not a stone mill—so it’s more appropriate for culinary uses such as lattes and desserts.

You could call it powdered green tea rather than matcha, but:

• It has a deep forest-green color

• It’s pesticide-free

• It has a warm, homemade quality

• 
  

This has made it popular among natural lifestyle enthusiasts and vegan consumers.

I sell it at 800yen for 50g in this year

A View from a City Council Member

This phenomenon hasn’t gone unnoticed in my other role—as a member of Yame’s city council.

Municipalities like Nishio City in Aichi Prefecture have fully embraced matcha as a regional brand and are actively exporting it. In my area, an unused tea factory was recently purchased and will soon reopen as a tencha (shaded tea before glind Matcha) factory—another sign of the shifting landscape.

When I asked a veteran tea-focused council member for his opinion, he said: "Don’t get swept up in the hype. This kind of boom won’t last 10 years."

I respect that view. Eventually, global consumers will realize how rare and hard-to-store ceremonial matcha is, and they would conclude that ceremonial grade isn’t always necessary.

Still, I wonder: should we ignore the current demand just because it might not last forever?

For small producers and businesses in rural areas, these trends represent rare opportunities. I believe we should be thoughtful—but responsive.

In Conclusion: Match Purpose to Product

Lately, I hear more and more tea vendors say: "We’re sold out of matcha. There’s no stock left."

When I visit tea shops in Yame, matcha is sometimes hidden away or rationed—one type per customer.

This makes sense. Many overseas buyers are purchasing large amounts of "ceremonial grade" matcha, even though they’re not using it for tea ceremonies.

for rich tourist doen't care its price, just want high quality

In most cases, cooking-grade matcha or powdered green tea would be more appropriate.

Failing to recognize this mismatch causes stress for producers and limits supply for traditional uses. it changes our original ecosystem.

That’s why, even as someone not specialized in matcha, I hope to offer realistic and sincere alternatives:

Not ceremonial grade, but:

• Grown deep in the mountains

• Small-scale and chemical-free

• Ground into a fine powder perfect for culinary use

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out.

#matcha #japanesetea #ceremonialmatcha #veganmatcha #powderedgreentea #yamecha #skyteahouse #greentealatte #sustainabletea #organicstyle