Uji's Matcha Shortage Puts Japan's Tea Traditions Under Pressure

A rush for matcha leaves Uji struggling to keep up

At 10:00 a.m., the doors of Uji's famous matcha shops open. Within minutes, eager tourists can strip the shelves bare. Some shops in this historic town south of Kyoto now sell a month's supply of the prized green tea powder in a single day, leaving residents and traditional tea practitioners struggling to buy even one tin.

As of June 8, 2025, Uji's shortage reflects a growing strain between worldwide enthusiasm for matcha and the limits of producing it. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries puts national matcha production at 4,176 tons in 2023, nearly three times the output in 2010. Even that increase has failed to keep pace with demand.

Japan welcomed nearly 37 million tourists in 2024, and many visitors headed to Uji seeking authentic matcha experiences and tea to take home. Once the exclusive domain of emperors and tea masters, Uji's matcha has become a sought after souvenir and an ingredient in drinks and products far beyond Japan.

Tourism has helped revitalize the local economy. It has also made a limited supply harder to share among visitors, residents, temples, shrines and people who practise the tea ceremony. For Uji, celebrated as Japan's matcha capital, the concern reaches beyond empty shelves: access to a tea closely tied to local culture is becoming less certain.

Why making more matcha takes time

Matcha is a finely ground powder made from green tea leaves grown under shade. It is prized for its vivid color, rich umami flavor and health benefits. Umami describes a savory taste, one of the qualities that helps distinguish the tea.

Producing matcha of the quality used in traditional ceremonies takes considerable work. Leaves are shaded, picked by hand and ground with stone mills. The milling process yields only about 400 grams of powder after eight hours, placing a tight limit on how quickly finished tea can reach shops.

Tomomi Hisaki, general manager at the historic Uji tea shop Tsujirihei Honten, explains how the growing process itself restricts supply:

High-grade Uji matcha is not something that can be mass-produced in the first place. If you cover the tea plants for shading, they can't photosynthesize as much, so the harvest is small.

Photosynthesis is the process plants use to turn sunlight into energy. Shading helps develop the qualities sought in matcha, but it also reduces the amount the plants can produce. Growing and milling more tea therefore involves limits that cannot be removed simply by taking more orders.

Tourism and social media widen demand

Uji's tea shops are serving a market that now extends well beyond people who drink matcha in a traditional setting. TikTok and Instagram have helped spread its appeal, while matcha has become a familiar ingredient in lattes, desserts and even skincare products around the world.

Visitors often buy matcha intended for ceremonies in bulk. Some purchases are for resale; others are destined for fashionable beverages such as lattes and smoothies. Both uses add demand for the same limited supplies sought by traditional tea drinkers.

Tourism brings customers and spending to Uji, but the pace of purchases can overwhelm a shop's stock. Selling a month's supply in a day means demand is arriving far faster than the business expected that stock to last.

Purchase limits and rising prices reshape access

Some retailers have introduced purchase limits to spread available matcha among more customers. Others have not followed suit, contributing to scenes in which tourists compete for the last tins while local buyers leave empty handed.

Premium matcha prices are also rising sharply. Some residents are being priced out of a tradition rooted in their own community, while hoarding tins for resale has added to local tensions.

For residents and tea practitioners, availability and affordability are linked problems. Finding a tin is becoming more difficult, and securing one can cost more. The shortage exposes an economic inequality within the tourism boom: the spending that supports shops can also make a valued local product less accessible to the people who regularly use it.

Why tea practitioners fear a cultural loss

Uji's matcha has a place in meditative rituals and special occasions, as well as in the work of tea masters, temples and shrines. When supplies move toward bulk souvenir purchases and fashionable drinks, less remains available for those traditional uses.

Simona Suzuki, president of the Global Japanese Tea Association, has expressed concern about how matcha intended for ceremonies is being used and what that means for access:

We have heard reports of ceremonial matcha being used for lattes and smoothies, which can reduce the availability of high-quality matcha for those who wish to enjoy it in its traditional form. Our hope is that foreign tourists will consider the intended use when purchasing matcha.

Tea practitioners and residents see the shortage as a threat to the preservation of centuries of tea culture. Their concern includes the price of maintaining that practice and whether suitable tea will remain available when they need it.

More output, fewer farmers

Japan's production increase has taken place alongside a steep decline in the number of tea farmers. The country had more than 53,000 tea farmers in 2000, compared with just 12,353 in 2020, as younger generations turned away from the demanding work.

That is a decline of more than 76%, calculated from those two figures. Matcha production and farmer numbers describe different parts of the industry, but together they show the pressures behind the shortage: output has risen while the pool of people working in tea farming has become much smaller.

The figures trace how supply and demand reached the present position:

• 2000: Japan had more than 53,000 tea farmers.
• 2010: Matcha output stood at roughly one third of its 2023 level.
• 2020: The number of tea farmers had fallen to 12,353.
• 2023: Matcha production reached 4,176 tons, according to the agriculture ministry.
• 2024: Japan welcomed nearly 37 million tourists, adding to the demand reaching places such as Uji.

Can new planting ease the shortage?

Tea shrubs take up to five years to mature. Expanding cultivation therefore involves a wait before new plants can contribute to the supply, even when growers are ready to invest the work.

The Japanese government is offering subsidies to encourage cultivation of tencha, the leaf used to make matcha. Tencha is the material that must be grown before it can be ground into the powder customers buy.

Those efforts will take years to bring additional supply to market. No date has been given for when production might catch up with demand, and the immediate pressure remains on existing growers and retailers.

Uji's challenge involves several stages at once: growing enough suitable leaves, processing them and milling them at a pace that preserves quality. New planting addresses the supply of leaves, while the slow work of producing premium matcha continues beyond the field.

Choosing tea for its intended use

Tea shops are educating customers about the differences between ceremonial, premium and culinary matcha, encouraging buyers to select tea suited to what they plan to make. The aim is to direct purchases more carefully across the products available.

Industry experts and local leaders are also calling for more sustainable tourism and consumption. Visitors are being encouraged to try other Japanese teas, including sencha, hojicha and gyokuro, which are more abundant and offer different flavors.

For tourists seeking a taste of Japanese tea culture, those choices broaden the experience beyond buying a tin of matcha. Choosing according to intended use can also help preserve limited supplies for the traditional practices that depend on them.

New interest offers a longer view

The shortage has sparked renewed interest in tea farming among younger Japanese, offering hope to an industry that has lost many growers. Turning that interest into additional production will still take time because of the work involved and the years needed for tea shrubs to mature.

Technological innovation and research into cultivars that produce larger harvests may eventually help bring supply closer to demand. For now, Uji must manage worldwide enthusiasm for a product whose most prized qualities depend on careful, time consuming production.

Tourism has brought opportunity to the town, alongside pressure on the tea that makes it famous. Keeping that tea available for residents, visitors and traditional practitioners is the immediate challenge.

The Essentials

• Uji's premium matcha shortage is being driven by worldwide demand and heavy tourist purchasing.
• Japan produced 4,176 tons of matcha in 2023, nearly three times its 2010 output.
• Shading, careful harvesting and slow stone milling limit how quickly premium supplies can grow.
• Purchase limits vary among shops, while rising prices and resale buying are adding pressure on local access.
• Government support for tencha cultivation may help, but new tea shrubs take up to five years to mature.
• Tea shops and industry leaders are encouraging purchases suited to intended use and interest in other Japanese teas.