Matcha-do About Something: The History of Uji Tea

While coffee is consumed more in Japan than tea today, historically and culturally Japan is a tea culture. Tea was, of course, brought to Japan from China, by Buddhist monks who had traveled to the continent for religious enlightenment. The great Buddhist leaders Kukai and Saicho are credited with bringing the first tea to Japan during the Heian period, but it remained a drink limited to the Imperial household (and then only rarely) for almost 400 years, in spite of significant work by the monk Eisai to spread knowledge of tea.

In the early 13th century, during the Kamakura Period, tea cultivation in Uji began to take root, flourishing due to the region's advantageous geography and soil quality. It was only later, in the mid-1400s, that the practice of drinking tea started to gain traction. Uji's tea production reached new heights, and the creation of the tea-guessing game "Tocha" elevated Uji tea to a prestigious gift.

Over time, tea drinking merged with cooking, giving rise to "Cha no Yu," a system that valued and displayed tea ceremony utensils and furniture. Uji, in the 15th century, became a prominent player in the tea industry, rivaling Kyoto's Toganoo. The tea plantation "Oku no Yama" from the Muromachi Period still stands today as one of Uji's "Seven Famous Gardens."

In the second part of the 16th century, Uji introduced a novel tea-growing approach called "ōishita Saibai," resulting in rich green leaves and a robust flavor. Legend has it that this tea was the original ingredient for matcha, achieving the title of the best in Japan. Sen no Rikyū recognized the importance of this high quality tea for his popular "Cha no Yu".

Moving into the 17th century, the Kanbayashi family of Uji, under the order of the 3rd Shogunate Tokugawa Iemitsu, produced premium tea for the court and the Shogun. The "Chatsubo-Dochu" was instituted to transport fresh tea to Edo, with Uji's tea masters playing a significant role in preserving Japanese tea culture.

During the early 17th century, Monk Ingen of Manpuku-ji Temple disseminated the "roast and roll" technique across Japan. The Uji Method, developed by Nagatani Sōen in the Tawara-Yuyatani district around the middle of the 18th century, introduced an innovative way to dry tea buds.

As the Edo Period began, the Uji Method gained popularity, initially in Edo and later in other tea-producing regions. To this day, the Uji Method remains the gold standard in Japan. By applying the Uji technique to tea harvested with the Oishita Saibai method, Uji produced "gyokuro" towards the end of the Edo Period. Kyoto's nobility began serving gyokuro and sencha during tea parties, leading to the exclusive use of sencha in tea ceremony rooms.

Between the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the early Meiji Period, Uji tea played a pivotal role in Japan's export sector. Efforts were made to cultivate premium tea for international commerce in the Kyoto Yamashiro region. In the latter part of the Meiji Period, a nationwide market for Uji tea emerged, and regular families embraced tea in their daily lives through mail-order purchases. The exceptional processing and mixing capabilities of Uji tea led to the creation of numerous premium varieties, solidifying Uji tea's reputation.

In 2021, total consumption of tea in Japan totaled nearly 100,000 tons, which sounds like a lot, but the annual per household consumption rate was only 827 grams, about a third of household consumption in 1970. As both the consumers of tea and the tea growers of Uji and the surrounding tea production areas age, tea consumption seems likely to continue on a downward trend. The good news is that there is evidence to support green tea's health benefits, so while the volume consumed and the number of consumers decreases, the consumers will enjoy better overall health. So whether it's from Uji or one of the other tea growing regions of Japan, (Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Mie actually produce more tea than Kyoto/Uji, and Fukuoka and Miyazaki are not far behind), enjoy the wonderful teas of Japan, and