On the Ground in Japan: First Flush, Matcha & Time of Change
Header Image credit: Nori
We’ve been travelling to origin more than ever over the past couple of years.
It’s something that feels hugely exciting - though less good when we look at it through the lens of our meticulously tracked carbon footprint! But the reality is nothing replaces being there in person. Walking the fields. Standing in the factories. Sitting down over dinner (being laughed at for your chopstick skills) and properly understanding what’s happening, and what’s at stake for all involved.
A few days ago, that meant swapping the London commute for a bullet train out of Tokyo and down to Shizuoka - kicking off a week in Japan with our long-standing partners, right as the first flush harvest gets underway.
For those less familiar, first flush is the most anticipated moment in the Japanese tea calendar. After months of winter dormancy, the first leaves of the new season are picked - fresh, vibrant, and full of the flavour that will define the year ahead. When it comes to Matcha (finely ground green tea, traditionally whisked into a bright green, umami-rich drink), it’s a particularly critical time.
And this year, it feels like an especially important one to be here for.
Image credit: Nori
More Than Just a “Matcha Boom”
It’s impossible to spend time in Japan right now without hearing the same phrase repeated over and over again - usually in English, often the only English words in a stream of Japanese awaiting translation:
“Matcha boom.”
And on the surface, that’s exactly what it looks like.
Demand for Matcha globally has surged. Here in the UK, it’s moved from being a niche product to something you’ll find on almost every café menu - from high street chains to independent coffee shops. More people than ever are discovering it, which is exciting.
But on the ground, the picture is far more nuanced.
Yes, there’s optimism - a sense that this growing demand could shine a much-needed spotlight on Japanese tea culture more broadly. But there’s also real complexity. Rising costs, pressure on raw materials, and an increasingly competitive global market mean that the benefits of this “boom” aren’t being felt evenly.
Almost every conversation we had eventually circled back to the same question:
What happens next?
Why Being There Matters
If there’s one thing this trip reinforced, it’s how important relationships are in Japan.
Access to the best tea isn’t just about buying power. In many cases, it simply isn’t available unless there’s trust - built over years, sometimes decades. That trust opens doors: to the right producers, to the right leaves, and crucially, to honest conversations about the realities behind them.
Over the course of the week, we spent time with a range of partners - from larger, highly sophisticated operations to small, family-run farms that have been producing tea for generations. Much of what we discussed was highly technical (they generously answered my many, many questions) but always rooted in a shared focus: making better tea.
This one-on-one face time is invaluable and something that’s hard to replicate from afar.
A Snapshot of Three Regions
We travelled across three key tea-growing regions - Shizuoka, Kyoto and Kagoshima - each offering a slightly different perspective.
Shizuoka, one of Japan’s largest tea-producing areas, gave us a sense of scale and heritage. Kyoto, particularly the famous Uji region, is known for producing some of the highest-grade Matcha in the country - though interestingly, far more tea is sold as “Uji” than could ever realistically come from such a small area. And further south, Kagoshima showed a more commercial side of the industry, where flatter fields and larger plots allow for greater efficiency and innovation.
But while the landscapes and approaches varied, something else felt consistent across all three.
Image credit: Nori
An Industry That Feels Alive
Having spent time in other tea-producing regions around the world - from India to Sri Lanka to Kenya - it can sometimes feel difficult to be optimistic about the future of the industry.
There are complex, systemic challenges at play in many of those regions: oversupply, long-term underpricing, climate pressures, and a steady decline in younger generations wanting to stay in tea.
Japan feels different.
That’s not to say it doesn’t have its own challenges - it absolutely does. We heard about factory closures, cashflow concerns, and uncertainty around pricing. We also heard of the young moving away from brewing leaf tea at home, instead opting for Ready-to-Drink bottled alternatives. But alongside that, there was still a sense of momentum.
We saw new shiny machinery being installed alongside equipment that’s been in use for over 100 years. We met multi-generational family businesses - fathers and sons working side by side - who spoke with pride about passing their knowledge on. In other parts of the world, it’s common to hear tea producers talk proudly about their children choosing not to go into tea. Here, the opposite often seemed true.
Younger people are of course attracted to the cities, and to careers outside of agriculture, but many are still involved - helping out in the fields during busy periods, supporting with tasks like shading the tea plants (a crucial step in producing high-quality Matcha). There’s also a growing sense that innovation, including the introduction of new technology and even AI, could help bring more people back into the industry over time.
It felt, in short, like an industry that’s evolving - uncertain, yes, but very much alive.
Balancing Quality, Price & Perception
Of course, none of this exists in isolation from what’s happening globally.
As demand continues to grow, so does the pressure on supply. New processing facilities are being built, and capacity is increasing, but competition for high-quality raw material is intensifying - and prices are rising as a result.
At the more price-sensitive end of the market, lower-cost Matcha from China is becoming a more viable option. It can deliver the bright green colour many consumers associate with quality, at a significantly lower price point - even if the flavour and provenance don’t quite match up.
Which raises an important question for the category as a whole:
What do customers really value when it comes to Matcha?
Is it colour? Price? Origin? Flavour?
And how elastic is that demand, once prices continue to rise?
As a brand that champions quality and flavour, these are the kinds of decisions we’re thinking about very carefully - alongside our partners - as we look ahead to the year to come.
Where we stand
We were lucky enough to meet a number of producers whose focus was simply on making better tea - year on year, harvest on harvest. For them, first flush isn’t just the start of the season; it’s another opportunity to refine their craft and get closer to the best cup they’ve ever produced.
At Good & Proper Tea, our role isn’t just to source tea - it’s to help raise the bar. To show what great tea, including Matcha, can look and taste like, and to help our customers serve it properly so that every cup does justice to the work that’s gone into it.
And that work, as this trip reminded us, is incredibly complex. From field to cup, there are countless skilled hands involved - growing, shading, harvesting, refining, grinding. It’s a process that deserves both understanding and respect.
Looking Ahead
As we left Japan and headed back to London, the first flush harvest was only just beginning.
There’s still a lot that remains uncertain - how the season will play out, where pricing will land, how demand will continue to evolve. But there’s also a shared hope among many of our partners that this moment - this so-called “Matcha boom” - might ultimately lead to something more meaningful.
Not just growth in one product, but a deeper appreciation of Japanese tea culture as a whole.
We’re very grateful to have been there - with the people behind it all - seeing it unfold in real time.
