Japanese Green Tea - A Comprehensive Guide

Japan is home to a wide variety of green teas, including sencha, gyokuro, and matcha, each with its own unique flavor and enjoyment. These teas are more than just drinks; they bring relaxation and health benefits to our daily lives.

In this article, we introduce the characteristics of each type of green tea, its history, health benefits, and tips on how to brew it. Find the green tea that’s right for you and enjoy a moment of contentment.

What is Japanese green tea?

“What is Japanese green tea?”

When asked, most people probably think of a clear green drink.

There are many different names for this same drink, such as “green tea,” “sencha,” and “Japanese tea,” yet few Japanese people can clearly explain the differences between them.

Green tea, commonly consumed in Japan, has its roots in the Camellia sinensis family of evergreen trees, which are native to China.

In fact, green tea, black tea, and oolong tea all come from this Camellia tree and are distinguished into three main categories according to their processing methods.

The plucked tea leaves naturally ferment over time; however, green tea is classified as “unfermented tea” because fermentation is stopped by heat treatment.

On the other hand, black tea is considered “fermented tea” when fermentation is fully complete, and oolong tea is “semi-fermented tea” when fermentation is halted halfway through.

Teas produced in Japan are collectively known as “Japanese tea.”

This includes green teas such as sencha, gyokuro, fukamushicha, and bancha, as well as processed teas like hojicha and genmaicha, and powdered teas made from crushed tea leaves produced during the green tea manufacturing process.

There are many varieties of Japanese tea, and factors such as the amount of sunlight the tea leaves are exposed to and the time of year when they are harvested play a major role in producing this rich variety.

These factors determine the taste and aroma of the tea leaves, giving rise to the different green tea flavors.

Various Japanese green teas

There is an astonishing variety of green teas in Japan. Even within the same category of “green tea,” such as sencha, gyokuro, and matcha, these teas vary greatly in flavor, aroma, and appearance.

Each tea has its own character, shaped by the environment in which it is grown and the methods used in its production, resulting in a wide range of flavors. This section provides a detailed introduction to the unique characteristics and appeal of the various types of green tea produced and enjoyed throughout Japan.

Sencha Green Tea

Sencha is the most widely produced green tea in Japan and is a quintessential representative of Japanese tea. Sencha tea leaves are harvested multiple times throughout the year, each season bringing a different flavor profile.

The first harvest occurs at the beginning of May, around the “88th night,” and the “ichiban-cha” (first tea) picked at this time has a particularly exceptional flavor and aroma, making it the finest sencha tea. This is followed by the “niban-cha” (second tea) around June/July and the “sanban-cha” (third tea) in late August.

Tea leaves harvested later in the season are more astringent due to their full exposure to sunlight and are often used as raw materials for bancha and hojicha. Sencha is produced all over Japan, with each region’s unique climate and harvest timing imparting distinct flavors, making it one of the most enjoyable teas to experience in a variety of tastes.

Matcha Green Tea

Matcha green tea is now popular all over the world.

Its beautiful green color, subtle bitterness, and gently spreading sweetness attract many people.

The health benefits of matcha have been recognized for centuries, with records indicating that Zen monk Eisai Zenji, who introduced matcha culture from China, recommended it as a “good medicine” to Minamoto no Sanetomo, the third shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, when he was suffering from a hangover. The tea’s effects reportedly helped him recover.

Matcha is rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and dietary fiber, which can be fully consumed from the whole tea leaves.

Due to its extensive health and beauty benefits—such as boosting immunity, promoting anti-aging effects, and even aiding in fat burning—more people are incorporating matcha into their daily routines.

Recently, it has also become a popular ingredient in sweets, with matcha-flavored ice creams and cakes offering a delicious treat that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Genmaicha Green Tea

Genmaicha is a Japanese tea made by adding roasted brown rice to sencha or bancha tea, characterized by its savory aroma.

Brewing it with boiling water enhances the aroma of the brown rice and gives it a relaxing taste.

Genmaicha has traditionally been popular as the tea of the common people, but in recent years, premium blends with matcha and gyokuro have appeared, further increasing its popularity.

One of the attractions of this tea is that you can vary the flavor by adjusting the amount of brown rice, and you can even create your own original blends by roasting brown rice or rice yourself.

Many people enjoy genmaicha as an easy way to explore their individual taste preferences.

Hojicha Green Tea

Hojicha is made by roasting sencha and stem tea at high temperatures and is characterized by its savory aroma.

Roasting reduces caffeine and astringency, making it a popular tea that is gentle on the stomach.

To enjoy the fragrance of hojicha even more, it is recommended to try roasting it yourself.

Even without a special roaster, you can easily make homemade hojicha using a frying pan or saucepan that has been thoroughly wiped clean of any oil.

The key to roasting the tea leaves is to shake the pan frequently and stir while roasting to prevent them from burning.

The flavor varies depending on the degree of roasting, so finding your own preferred flavor can be enjoyable.

With its refreshing taste, hojicha is ideal for drinking after a particularly greasy meal, providing a pleasant aftertaste while helping to soothe the stomach.

Gyokuro Green Tea

Gyokuro is a premium Japanese tea produced from tea leaves grown “under cover,” meaning they are shielded from direct sunlight for a certain period of time.

Its cultivation is largely done by hand and is known for yielding the richest flavor and aroma of all Japanese teas.

Because of its limited production, gyokuro is highly prized as a special gift.

Gyokuro is best enjoyed slowly in small quantities on special occasions, rather than as a tea to simply quench thirst.

Natsume Soseki, one of Japan’s most celebrated writers and a notable figure on Japanese currency, is also known as a tea lover, with gyokuro featured in his work Kusamakura.

In this work, Soseki wrote, “Ordinary people think tea is something to drink, but they are wrong,” suggesting that tea should not be gulped down to quench one’s thirst but savored carefully for its aroma and flavor.

Soseki’s words still resonate with many people today as a reminder to appreciate the delicate taste of gyokuro.

Bancha

Bancha is a common and familiar tea made from the second and third tea harvests.

Because it is affordable, many people enjoy it as a tea they can drink abundantly on a daily basis.

Among Bancha teas, there is a particularly high-grade variety called Senryu, made from a collection of large leaves removed during the production process of Ichibancha (first flush tea).

There are also many local varieties of Bancha produced using methods unique to different regions of Japan, and these are widely referred to as “bancha” as well.

For example, Kyo-bancha, produced in the Uji region of Kyoto, is a roasted tea with a savory flavor, similar to common hojicha but made using a process unique to Kyoto.

For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as “roasted bancha.”

As you can see, there are many different types of Bancha across various regions, making it a tea that allows you to enjoy the distinctive taste and culture of each area.

Fukamushi (Steamed) Sencha Green Tea

Fukamushi Sencha is a Japanese tea produced by steaming the tea leaves for a longer time than standard Sencha.

After the tea leaves are plucked, they are steamed to halt fermentation. This steaming time is a critical process that determines the tea’s taste, as it greatly influences its flavor. By prolonging the steaming time, tannin, an astringent component, is transformed into theanine, a sweet component, resulting in a tea with a deeper, mellower taste.

As a result, deep-steamed sencha stands out for its rich, full-bodied flavor.

Fukamushi Sencha accounts for about 70% of Sencha production and is widely produced in prominent tea-growing regions in Japan, such as Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Mie prefectures.

Tencha

Tencha is the tea used to make matcha.

It is grown under cover, meaning that the tea leaves are shaded with straw or special black sheets for about 20 days before being picked to block out sunlight.

This cultivation method gives the tea leaves a strong flavor with less bitterness and astringency, enhancing their bright, dark green color and distinctive covered aroma.

After harvesting, the tea leaves are dried immediately after steaming without rolling, so their shape remains almost intact.

This gives the tea leaves a unique, crispy texture when held in the mouth.

Tencha is primarily used as a raw material for matcha, so it is rarely seen in shops in Japan, but it can be purchased from online stores.

Tencha is an appealing ingredient for those who want to enjoy freshly ground matcha at home or use matcha in cooking.

It is also a favorite among health-conscious individuals, as it allows them to consume whole tea leaves.

Kabusecha

Kabusecha is a tea grown by covering the tea plants with straw or a net called kanreisha, which shields them from direct sunlight.

By blocking direct sunlight, the increase in the astringent component catechin is suppressed, while theanine, a flavor component, becomes more abundant, giving Kabusecha a rich, sweet, and savory flavor.

Kabusecha is usually shaded 7–10 days before harvest, whereas gyokuro is covered around 20 days prior, and is then processed in the same way as sencha.

As a result, this tea retains the fresh aroma and astringency of sencha, combined with the deep flavor of gyokuro.

The key to bringing out the flavor of Kabusecha lies in the brewing method, particularly in the water temperature.

If you want to enjoy a mellow taste similar to gyokuro, brew it slowly with lukewarm water (60–70°C).

If you prefer the fresh taste of sencha, use slightly hotter water (80–90°C) to explore different flavors.

Kamairicha

Unlike most Japanese teas, such as sencha and gyokuro, kamairicha is made by roasting tea leaves in a kettle rather than steaming them to halt fermentation.

It is said to have been introduced from China around the 16th century, and the kamairi method was common until the widespread use of sencha in Japan.

Today, kamairicha is primarily produced in parts of Kyushu and is a very rare tea with a limited harvest.

The shape of the tea leaves is also characteristic of kamairicha, as they form a magatama-like shape rather than a needle-like shape, a feature unique to this tea.

Konacha / Funmatsucha

Powdered tea is made by sifting rough tea, such as sencha or gyokuro, and collecting only the powdered parts.

This tea is commonly served at sushi restaurants in Japan, where its rich flavor helps to mask any fishy odor, and the antibacterial properties of catechins make it an ideal accompaniment to sushi.

As powdered tea is in powder form, it is very easy to prepare; simply pour boiling water over it to enjoy.

Because it can be brewed quickly without a teapot, it’s convenient even when you’re busy.

Powdered tea is also more cost-effective than regular tea, as it is typically available at a lower price.

It is often used in tea bags, making it easy to enjoy on the go or in the office.

Kukicha

Kukicha is made by collecting the stems and leaf stalks removed during the production of gyokuro and sencha teas.

Since it comes from the same high-quality tea leaves, kukicha is valued for its fine taste and affordable price, making it popular with many people.

It resembles a thin rod, shaped like a twig, and in Japan, this stem is called the “chabashira (tea pillar).”

There are various theories as to why it’s called this, but one reason is that the rare tea stalks were considered a sign of good luck. There’s also an interesting story from the Edo period, in which merchants, struggling to sell Niban-cha due to its mixed stems, marketed it as “lucky tea with a chabashira” while Ichiban-cha remained in high demand.

This story reflects how merchants skillfully used positive thinking to boost their business.

Health benefits of Japanese green tea

Green tea has been consumed as a medicinal drink since ancient times, with its benefits widely recognized even before the advent of modern medicine.

In recent years, scientific advances have revealed that the components of green tea provide various health benefits.

Catechins, the primary component in green tea, are believed to suppress active oxygen, reduce body fat, and help prevent lifestyle-related diseases.

Catechins also have antioxidant properties and have been shown to inhibit the production of lipid peroxides, which contribute to aging.

Additionally, caffeine, the bitter component in green tea, can improve alertness, relieve fatigue, and enhance concentration.

Amino acids like theanine have a relaxing effect, helping to calm both the mind and body.

Thus, green tea offers numerous health benefits.

You can maximize these benefits by selecting a type of green tea that suits your timing and physical condition—for example, choosing advanced sencha to wake up, genmaicha before bedtime, or gyokuro before engaging in physical activity.

How to prepare Japanese tea

There are many different types of Japanese tea, and one of its attractions is that the taste can vary significantly depending on how it is brewed.

To brew a delicious cup of Japanese tea, it is important not only to choose the right tea leaves but also to consider the water temperature, brewing time, and choice of tea utensils.

For example, a kyusu is ideal for sencha, an earthenware teapot is suitable for hojicha and bancha—teas brewed with plenty of hot water—and a small kyusu is best for gyokuro, which is brewed slowly and carefully in a small pot.

The temperature of the water is also crucial to bringing out the full flavor of the tea leaves.

If sencha is brewed with boiling water, more catechins are extracted, making the tea more astringent; however, brewing at a lower temperature allows the umami flavor to be more prominent.

On the other hand, aroma is more likely to develop when brewed with hot water.

Boil the water, then allow it to cool to the correct temperature.

Each time the water is transferred to another vessel, the temperature drops by 5-10°C, which can be used to adjust the temperature accordingly.

Although matcha is often thought of as expensive, it can be enjoyed at home quite freely.

The basic utensils for making matcha, such as a chasen (tea whisk) and a matcha bowl, are sufficient to make a delicious cup of matcha.

Even if you don’t have a dedicated bowl, a large café au lait bowl can be used as a substitute, so feel free to explore the appeal of matcha.

Final thoughts on Japanese green tea

As we have shown, there are many different types of Japanese tea, including sencha, gyokuro, hojicha, and matcha, each with its own distinct flavor and appeal.

The beauty of Japanese tea lies in the ability to select the most suitable tea for your mood or occasion. Choosing your favorite tea from the many varieties available can be a delightful experience.

The relaxation and sense of enrichment that a cup of tea can bring will add color to your daily life.

The busier you are, the more valuable it is to take time to savor a cup of tea and cherish the moment to reflect and connect with yourself.

We hope you enjoy a richer life through the experience of Japanese tea.