About this episode

The episode explores the historical and contemporary meanings of Uji matcha and its origins.

In this editorial conversation, Ryan and Zongjun (Sam) interrogate the term "Uji matcha" and its tangled provenance: what it once meant, and how it has quietly changed over the years. Was Uji ever really a single origin? What did the Edo-period ochashi monopoly actually control, and what broke when the shogunate fell? How does one trademark end up stretched across four prefectures? And how much Uji Matcha actually actually remains "single origin" when Uji produces only 37 tons of tencha a year? Uji-no-Matcha Series: Part 1: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth Part 2: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-2a5 Part 3: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-108 Part 4: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-ca7 Part 5: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-2b3

People in this episode

Host: Ryan

Guest: Zongjun (Sam)

Topics covered

• Uji matcha
• provenance
• Edo-period history
• single origin
• tea production
• trademark issues

Keywords

• Uji matcha
• Edo-period
• tencha
• single origin
• tea history
• trademark
• provenance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Uji, Edo-period ochashi monopoly, shogunate

Places: Uji, four prefectures

More episodes of Specialty Matcha Podcast

• "Japanese Tea" GI Granted & Startup Update · July 17, 2026 · 29 min
• Uji-no-Matcha: The inconvenient truth about Japan's most mythologized tea label · June 25, 2026 · 49 min

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