Buying Japanese tea to take home: matcha, sencha, teapots and how to pack them

Sencha is the everyday green tea of Japan. The agriculture ministry's English brewing manual says it became the main type of tea after it appeared in the Edo period, and that tea from the early harvest is rich in amino acids and considered good quality. Fukamushi (deep-steamed) sencha is steamed two to three times longer, so the leaves break into finer particles that give a thicker colour and need a shorter infusion. The manual brews high-quality sencha at about 70°C and middle-grade sencha at about 90°C, for around 1 minute 30 seconds.

Gyokuro has fewer bitter, astringent components than other teas but plenty of caffeine, so it's brewed cool — 50–60°C — and slowly, about 2 minutes 30 seconds, in tiny amounts; deep-green, glossy leaves are its mark. Matcha starts with tea plants covered with reed and straw to keep off direct sunlight; the leaves are steamed and dried without rolling into tencha, then ground in a stone mill into a fine powder and whisked with a bamboo whisk. The manual notes that the way tencha and matcha were made and drunk gave rise to chanoyu, the tea ceremony.

Hojicha (roasted green tea) and genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice) belong to the bancha family and are enjoyed for their roasted aroma rather than their taste, the manual says. They're brewed with boiling water for about 30 seconds — which makes them the forgiving choice if the tea will be made with a kettle and a mug at home. If you'd like to try the others, buy a small tin or bag of each rather than one large pack.

Much of it comes from one prefecture: Shizuoka's tourism association says about 40% of Japan's green tea is grown there.

Uji is the classic stop. Kyoto Prefecture's official travel guide calls it the birthplace of Uji matcha culture and one of Japan's most important centres of high-grade tea, about 20 minutes from Kyoto Station by JR Nara Line rapid train. Its suggested walk runs from JR Uji Station to Byodo-in Temple and along the Byodo-in Omotesando shopping street, past long-running tea shops. The guide picks out Nakamura Tokichi Honten (founded 1854), where you can browse tea leaves and tea-flavoured sweets after a meal in the café, and Itoh Kyuemon, whose shop sells matcha cookies and matcha gift sets. The wider area of southern Kyoto — Uji, Wazuka and Joyo — is promoted as 'Kyoto Tea Country'.

In Shizuoka, the tea fields themselves are the sight. The prefecture's tourism association describes the Makinohara Plains as about 5,000 hectares of plantations, said to be 10% of Japan's green tea fields, starting just south of Shimada Station — 18 minutes by JR Tokaido Line from Kakegawa or 27 from Shizuoka. It adds that Kakegawa has green tea experiences within walking distance of the station, handy if you're changing trains on the shinkansen.

Elsewhere, look for a specialist tea shop. The agriculture ministry's tea page links to 'GO TO お茶体験', a tea-shop map (with an English version) covering Shizuoka, Aichi, Kagoshima, Fukuoka and Mie that marks which shops offer brewing lessons, tastings and teaware. A shop where you can taste before you buy is the surest way to choose a sencha or gyokuro you'll like.

Some inns in our directory make tea the centrepiece. KAI Enshu, on Lake Hamana in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, is built around Shizuoka green tea: a lakeside lounge where you can brew any of a dozen-plus teas for free, a tea counter with an iron kettle in each room, a free tea-tasting session in the afternoon (four sittings from 15:00 to about 17:00, so arrive by 15:00), and tea leaves you can take from the lounge to your room. It's an easy way to find out which teas you like before you buy.

Ureshino Onsen in Saga is a tea town too. At Taishoya Shiibasanso, our report suggests taking some of the room's Ureshino tea home — guests rave about it and the shop sells it. Ryokan Omuraya serves free Ureshino tea in its lounge and builds dinner around tea-shabu, and Wataya Bessou has a book-and-tea shop and a tea salon on its riverside grounds and runs tea courses.

Many inns serve matcha on arrival, a good first taste if you've never had it — check the hours. Shosuke no Yado Takinoyu in Aizu-Wakamatsu serves free matcha in its fourth-floor lounge from 14:00 to 18:00; Asanoya in Yumura Onsen serves welcome matcha and sweets only until 17:00; and at Yagyu no Sho in Shuzenji, check-in happens in your room over matcha and a sweet. For a tea ceremony, KAI Tamatsukuri in Matsue runs 20-minute sessions from 15:30 to 18:30 (take a tag from the board at check-in), and Dogo Onsen Dogokan in Matsuyama holds one in its Juandō tea room on Saturday and Sunday nights at 20:00, 20:35 and 21:10 (¥1,500 per adult).

If you like the tea you're served, ask the front desk what it is and where it's from — then buy it at the inn's shop, in town, or online later.

Choose the teapot for the tea. The agriculture ministry's manual pairs gyokuro with a 90 ml pot and 40 ml cups, high-quality sencha with a 250 ml pot and 100 ml cups, middle-grade sencha with a 600 ml pot, and bancha or hojicha with an 800 ml pot and 200 ml cups. A small kyusu is right for gyokuro and fine sencha; for everyday hojicha, buy bigger.

Tokoname, on the Chita Peninsula in Aichi, is the best-known kyusu town. The transport ministry's multilingual description says it is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and that red-clay kyusu were developed there from techniques imported from China in the mid-19th century. The iron-rich clay retains heat, the inside is left unglazed, and the clay is said to soften the astringency of green tea. Kyusu tend to be smaller than Western teapots and often have a side handle at 90 degrees to the spout. You can learn more at the Tokoname Tou no Mori Museum on the town's Pottery Footpath.

For matcha you need a bowl (chawan), a bamboo scoop (chashaku) and a bamboo whisk (chasen). The Japanese government's Highlighting Japan magazine reported in 2016 that Takayama in Nara Prefecture has been a centre of whisk-making for about 500 years; craftspeople there split a 12 cm length of bamboo into 16 tines and each tine into ten thinner prongs, and each tea school uses its own type of whisk. A whisk is the lightest item to carry; bowls and pots are where packing matters (see below).

If you didn't pass a tea town, or want a heavy teapot to meet you at the end of the trip, Amazon.co.jp and Rakuten Ichiba sell all of these categories. Amazon says standard delivery takes about one to four days after dispatch, except in some areas such as remote islands, and shows the estimated date at checkout.

Ask the inn first. Yamato Transport says it delivers to a hotel or ryokan if the inn is willing to accept the parcel, that some inns restrict where and when you can collect it, and that parcels should be sent at least two days before check-in (three for longer distances). If your inn is remote, ask how long deliveries take to reach it — or have fragile teaware sent to a city hotel near the end of your trip, where you'll repack anyway.

Or collect it at a convenience store. Amazon holds parcels for four days at Lawson, MiniStop and FamilyMart counters, three at FamiLocker and PUDO lockers, and seven at Yamato offices, where you need ID; uncollected parcels go back and the order is refunded. Rakuten's konbini pickup excludes parcels over 100 cm (three sides combined) or 10 kg, chilled or frozen goods, date or time delivery and cash on delivery, and holds parcels for two or three days depending on the chain and carrier.

Tea is fragile in its own way. Shizuoka Prefecture's advice is that tea oxidises, absorbs moisture and picks up other smells, and that oxygen, humidity, heat and light dull its taste and aroma and turn it reddish — so keep it sealed, cool and dark. At home, it suggests moving about ten days' worth into a tea caddy, taping the bag shut, double-bagging the rest and keeping it in the fridge. When you take refrigerated tea out, let it come to room temperature before opening it, or condensation will form on the leaves, especially in summer.

Dry tea is easy to fly with. Japan's transport ministry applies the cabin liquids rule to liquids, gels, aerosols and anything that can't keep its shape without a container, and lists tea and coffee drinks among the items covered — so bottled tea counts as a liquid (100 ml containers in one 1-litre bag in your cabin bag, as Kansai Airport explains), but tea leaves, tea bags and matcha powder don't. Flying to the United States, though, the TSA says powders over 350 ml (12 oz) in a carry-on may need extra screening at the checkpoint, and any that can't be cleared there are not allowed in the cabin and are disposed of; it suggests packing powders in your checked bag.

Wrap teapots and bowls individually, fill the inside with soft items, and keep the lid of a kyusu wrapped separately from the body. Carry anything precious in your cabin bag.

Tax-free shopping changed on 1 November 2026, when Japan moved to a refund system: purchases of ¥5,000 or more (excluding tax) per store per day qualify, and within 90 days you present your passport at a tax-free terminal in the departure lobby before checking in your bags, with all the goods in your possession. The Japan Tourism Agency says consumables used in Japan don't qualify — so don't open tax-free tea before you fly, and do the terminal before you check the suitcase.

Tea is one of the simpler foods to bring home, but declare it. For the United States, the USDA's traveller page says products made solely of tea leaves (Camellia sinensis, including green tea) can be brought in any quantity without restriction — but, as with all agricultural products, you must declare them, and inspectors make the final decision. Commercially packaged herbal teas are permitted subject to inspection. The USDA recommends keeping receipts and original packaging, and says you won't be penalised for declaring something that turns out not to be allowed. A blend such as genmaicha contains roasted rice as well as tea leaves, so declare it too and let the inspector decide.

Australia: the agriculture department lists commercially prepared and packaged tea (black and green tea only) among permitted foods, but you must declare food and plant material on arrival. Bamboo items — which includes a chasen — must be made from dried bamboo and be clean and free of seeds, soil, insects and plant debris. You won't be penalised if you declare and present everything, even items that aren't allowed in.

Great Britain: GOV.UK lists processed and packaged plant products among the foods you can bring in from any country without restriction; it doesn't name tea specifically. Northern Ireland has different rules.

For any other country, check your own government's page before you buy in bulk, and keep tea in its sealed, labelled packaging.