A trip to Japan

By Josh - Supply Chain Director

Earlier this year, I swapped London drizzle for the spring rain of Kyoto, spending a week touring tea farms and factories and meeting the people behind some of Japan’s most extraordinary teas.

We’ve been sourcing Japanese teas since the early days of Good & Proper, from our roasted Hojicha to that bright, grassy Sencha we still pour at tastings - but with the recent global matcha boom, it felt like the right time to head east again. We wanted to hear directly from our partners about how unprecedented demand is re-shaping the Japanese tea industry, and of course, to taste what’s new.

As ever, these trips are about connection. You can learn a lot from emails and samples, but nothing replaces standing in a tea field, shaking the hands that tend and process the leaves, and sharing a cup brewed just metres from where it was grown.

After a brief stop in Tokyo, I took a bullet train south to Shizuoka, home to our vibrant Sencha. The factory we visited was alive with the hum of dryers and the faint, sweet scent of steamed leaves. We cupped our way through a table of teas with the team there, and I was quietly pleased to spot our own Sencha among the line-up.

From there, it was on to Wazuka, a small, impossibly scenic village of rolling tea fields, often called the birthplace of Japanese green tea. We’ve worked with Obubu Tea Farm here for more than ten years, so it was great to be back among familiar faces. Standing next to a trailer piled high with just-picked leaves, we talked about the challenges of meeting surging matcha demand while keeping quality and community front and centre.

A short drive away, I then visited the Azuma family farm, where Teruko Azuma welcomed me with her calm warmth and a selection of organically grown, single cultivar matchas. With our only fluent Japanese speaker stuck outside with car troubles, Google Translate did its best, and somehow we managed to talk tea, its challenges and the dizzying pace of the matcha market. Between laughs, she poured me a small-batch wakōcha (Japanese black tea) with a gentle spice and no bitterness, a tea I knew immediately would have to come home with me as a future Guest Tea.

Nearby, I made a quick stop at the preserved home of Nagatani Sōuen, the 18th-century tea master credited with inventing Sencha. His thatched house, tatami floors and old tea rolling tables offer a quiet glimpse into Japan’s long, meticulous relationship with tea, a fitting reminder of why “doing things properly” matters so much here.

The final leg took me to Kagoshima, Japan’s southern tea heartland, known for its volcanic soil and fragrant, sweet teas. Here I met sisters Akane and Yurie Kawaguchi, 4th generation tea farmers at the beautiful Koukien Tea Garden.

We were running late after a long day of visits, but on arrival they insisted on brewing a pot of their freshly processed Ohashiri Shincha - delicate, grassy and full of spring energy - served alongside a super sweet Tokyo Banana cake. Sitting there, tea in hand, the sounds of the factory still humming outside, I had one of those cups you don’t forget.

The sisters talked passionately about balancing tradition with innovation, experimenting with new cultivars and creative packaging to share Japanese tea with a new generation.

Before heading home, I met with Hiroshi Kobayashi, one of only 13 people in Japan to hold the top 10-Dan tea master rank and the man behind our newly launched House Matcha blend. Kobayashi-san is meticulous about every stage of the process, from how the plants are shaded before harvest to selecting the right leaves to deliver that signature sweet-umami balance. His quiet precision and decades of expertise are what make our House Matcha so special and what continue to set the standard for matcha across Japan.

As is often the case at the end of a trip to origin, we left Japan inspired - by the people, the care, and the quiet pride that goes into every cup. The matcha boom has brought excitement and pressure in equal measure, but what struck me most was how each grower is finding their own way to protect what makes their tea unique.

Trips like this remind us why we do what we do: to stay close to the source, to learn from those who know the leaf best, and to bring back teas that tell their story - properly.

Explore our full Japanese Tea collection, and grab one of the last few tubes of the Azuma Wakoucha and Kawaguchi Sisters Shincha Guest Teas that Josh brought back with him.