KYOTO - Kyoto’s famed tea industry is facing a dramatic shift, as a surge in demand for matcha among foreign tourists is reshaping tea fields and driving up prices. What was once a tranquil green landscape has increasingly been replaced with black sheets used to produce tencha, the base ingredient of matcha.
Even before opening time, long queues form outside century-old tea shops in Kyoto. A closer look reveals that most of the eager customers are foreign tourists. Drawn by the global popularity of Japanese cuisine and a growing interest in health, they are snapping up matcha products in bulk. In one store, all matcha products sold out within 15 minutes of opening.
One major vendor, which derives over 90% of its sales from exports, says demand now spans the U.S., France, and more recently the Middle East, especially Dubai. The company reports that many clients are willing to pay premium prices for as much matcha as they can get, forcing them to turn down new orders due to limited supply.
This surge has driven up the price of matcha leaves by roughly 30% over the past five years. In response, Japan’s government is encouraging increased production. One Kyoto farm reported boosting matcha output by 15% this year, drawn by higher returns. Their tea fields—once entirely green—are now blanketed with dark sheets needed for cultivating tencha.
However, the matcha boom is having unintended side effects. Sencha, the familiar green tea consumed daily in Japan, is being squeezed out. In Kyoto, sencha production continues to decline even as matcha expands, affecting both availability and pricing.
At a recent tea leaf auction involving around 60 dealers, sencha prices had risen by 20% compared to the previous year. The reason: as more producers pivot to matcha, sencha becomes scarcer, pushing prices upward. Retailers that specialize in sencha now face the difficult decision of raising prices as early as this summer.
A Kyoto distributor explained: "We expect price increases with the new harvest season. It’s likely unavoidable given the production shift." Farmers are being forced to adapt quickly to a changing environment, balancing commercial gains with cultural preservation.
While some see shifting to matcha as necessary for sustaining tea farming, others worry about the cultural cost. "Sencha is what people drink every day," said a retailer. "We want to keep it available. But it depends on whether customers will accept higher prices for what’s becoming a luxury."
The impact has even reached bottled tea manufacturers in Kansai. One company reported it is considering three options due to soaring raw material costs: raising prices, switching from domestic to cheaper overseas tea sources, or cutting product lines.
Experts warn that as tea becomes more expensive, Japanese consumers may drink less of it. Kodama, a professor at Ryutsu Keizai University, noted that this "tea retreat" could threaten the foundation of Japan’s tea culture itself.
Some locals say the rising prices and changing production remind them of other foreign-driven trends. "Like with Kobe beef, matcha may become too expensive for Japanese people," said one commentator. "That could deter young people from practicing tea ceremony, which is vital to preserving tradition."
To safeguard tea culture, experts suggest measures to prevent prices from rising too far. “For many of us, tea is in our DNA,” said a Kyoto resident. “It’s part of our daily lives—and we need to make sure it stays that way.”
Source: KTV NEWS
