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Geography and microclimate
Uji is a town in the south of Kyoto prefecture, where the Uji river takes in the waters of Lake Biwa through the Uji canal. That meeting creates a distinctive microclimate: morning mists that filter the light naturally, constant humidity from the water nearby, and day-to-night temperature swings that slow the leaves down and concentrate the aromatic compounds.
The valley soils are alluvial, holding moisture well and draining well. The west slope of Mount Kuze, facing north, shades the fields naturally before the afternoon sun reaches full strength. That accident of terrain came on top of the artificial shading growers put up every spring.
History since the twelfth century
The Buddhist monk Eisai (1141-1215) brought tea seeds back from China in 1191 and planted them in Kyushu before establishing what became the first Uji gardens. By the thirteenth century the Kamakura shogunate was already drinking Uji matcha as a luxury. In 1423 the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu made the Uji gardens official suppliers to the court, a status they kept for four centuries.
The Muromachi period (1336-1573) consolidated tea culture in Uji. Sen no Rikyū (1522-1591), the master who defined modern chanoyu, used Uji matcha in everything he made and set the sensory standards that still guide high-end growers.
Formal breeding programmes began in 1931 with Jinnosuke Hirano in Higashi-Uji. The Kyoto Prefecture Tea Research Institute formalised cultivar selection in 1939, producing the Asahi, Gokou, Samidori and Ujihikari varieties that define the sensory profile of modern Uji matcha.
The Uji cultivars
The three cultivars that define the identity of high-end Uji matcha are:
- Gokou: considered the most prestigious cultivar for ceremonial matcha. The name means «five flavours». Very intense umami, deep sweetness, vivid dark green. Late harvest. Exclusive to Uji.
- Asahi: a classic variety developed in the 1930s. Exceptional creamy texture, gentle hazelnut notes, the masters’ favourite for koicha (thick tea).
- Samidori: «early summer green». Pronounced sweetness with complex umami and an enveloping aroma. Later than other cultivars, which lets it build up more L-theanine.
Many Uji producers blend two or three cultivars to get a balanced profile that holds steady year to year. The exact proportions are each tea house’s best kept commercial secret.
The production process
The production cycle in Uji starts in February with the shading covers being checked. In late March or early April, as the first buds appear, the canvas covers go up (and on the most traditional farms, bamboo canes woven with rice straw) to cut sunlight by 70 to 90 per cent.
The shading lasts 20 to 30 days. During that time the plant makes more chlorophyll to compensate for the missing light, which gives matcha its characteristic jade green. At the same time, with no direct light, the amino acids that would normally turn into (bitter) tannins stay as L-theanine, which is sweet and umami. The result is a leaf high in L-theanine and low in bitter catechins.
Picking in Uji is mostly done by hand, or with precision harvesters that take only the youngest leaves. The leaves are processed the same day at the factory: steamed (mushi), dried in dry-heat ovens, stripped of stems and veins by specialised machinery (aracha → tencha), and kept in cold storage until a customer orders.
The final grinding is done to order. Traditional stone mills (ishi-usu) produce 40 to 80 g an hour, giving a 5 to 10 micron particle at a maximum of 40 °C. Industrial ceramic ball mills go faster but generate heat that can compromise the antioxidants.
Why first-harvest Uji matcha costs so much
The 2025 production crisis accelerated what was already an upward price trend. According to JA Kyoto and the ITC, hand-picked tencha in Uji fell 40% in volume that year, while the average first flush price rose 265%. There are several structural reasons behind it:
- Hand picking in Uji cannot easily be replaced by machinery on the steepest plots.
- Growers are ageing and family farms have no successors, which is shrinking the area under cultivation.
- Global demand for ceremonial matcha has grown more than 80% in three years, while the supply of first-harvest Uji is structurally limited.
- Climate change is shifting the optimal dates for shading and picking, adding uncertainty and cost to planning.
All of this means first-harvest Uji matcha, Gokou or Asahi cultivar, will sit around €40 to €80 per 30 g on the European market over the next few years. This is not speculative inflation: it is real scarcity of a product that takes years to make.