Japan Introduces GI to Protect “Japanese Tea”

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The Worldwide Matcha Trend 

In recent years, global interest in Japanese tea has grown rapidly alongside the worldwide matcha boom. Over the past decade, green tea exports from Japan have nearly tripled, reaching approximately 12,000 tons in 2025. In response to expanding demand for matcha, the production of Tencha,  the raw material used to make matcha, has also increased significantly, reaching 5,336 tons in 2024, approximately 2.7 times higher than ten years ago. Despite all of this, there are no international protections on “Japanese Tea” that you’d get from formalized Japan GI (geographical indication.)

In addition, Japan’s green tea export value reached a record high of 72.1 billion yen in 2025. In overseas markets, “Matcha” has evolved into a cultural phenomenon, extending far beyond traditional tea consumption. From cafés and restaurants to matcha lattes, desserts, and even wellness-related products, matcha has become deeply integrated into diverse modern lifestyles. Along with this trend, interest in Japanese tea culture itself continues to expand around the world.

At the same time, however, Japan faces domestic challenges, including declining consumption of loose-leaf tea, shifting demand toward bottled beverages, and changing consumer habits. As a result, maintaining the production foundation of tea and preserving the value of Japanese tea have become increasingly important issues for the industry.

Furthermore, as the global presence of Japanese tea continues to rise, problems surrounding the Japanese tea brand have also become more serious. Overseas products labeled as “Uji Matcha” despite being produced outside Japan are becoming more common. Japanese tea has long been supported by Japan’s climate, traditional techniques, and the dedicated efforts of tea producers over generations, yet its value and naming are not always adequately protected in international markets like it would with a Japan GI.

Against this backdrop, efforts are now underway for Japan to obtain Geographical Indication (GI) registration in order to clearly define tea cultivated, harvested, and processed within Japan as authentic “Japanese Tea.” This initiative is attracting attention not only as a means of protecting a name, but also as a major step toward preserving and passing on the value of authentic Japanese tea to future generations.

Japan GI (Geographical Indication) 

It is a system that protects agricultural products and foods as intellectual property, recognizing the unique quality, reputation, and traditional production methods rooted in a specific region’s climate and culture. Rather than being simply an indication of origin, GI serves as a framework to safeguard the value and identity that can only be created in that particular region, and it is widely utilized around the world.

In Japan, tea-producing regions with distinctive characteristics — such as Yame Traditional Hon Gyokuro, Uji Tea, and Nishio Matcha — have already been registered under the GI system. These regional GIs play an important role in protecting the history, craftsmanship, and brand value that have been cultivated and passed down within each area over generations.

What makes the current initiative particularly noteworthy is that it aims to register “Japanese Tea” itself as a national GI, covering Japan as a whole rather than a single specific region. This represents a new effort to preserve and strengthen the credibility and brand value of “Japanese Tea” in the global market, while still respecting and protecting the individuality of each tea-producing region.

In recent years, as global demand for matcha has rapidly expanded, products labeled as “Japanese Matcha” or “Uji Matcha” despite using non-Japanese ingredients have increasingly appeared overseas. Under these circumstances, the national GI is also expected to serve as a clear standard for defining what authentic Japanese tea truly is.

Now that the word “Matcha” has become recognized worldwide, the question of how to preserve and pass on not only the history and techniques of Japanese tea, but also the culture and traditions rooted in its land, is becoming more important than ever for future generations.

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