Production of Japanese Tea based on Tea Types

In our analysis on the production volume of Japanese Tea, it was evident that the production volume in Japan overall has been going down at an alarming speed.

Let's take a look at the trend of production based on the types of tea.

This chart analyzes the Japanese Tea production based on the harvesting season of the tea.

The "Ichibancha" means "First Tea" and refers to first flush tea leaves, which are harvested during the first harvesting season of the year which is around Spring. The "Nibancha", or the "Second Tea" follows. Then the "Sanbancha" and "Yonbancha".

The "Ichibancha" is the most coveted as the quality is much higher than the others. Most of the quality loose leaf teas will fall under this category.

However, based on the graph, this high value "Ichibancha" is slightly dipping while the volume for the less expensive leaves are increasing. Especially the Yonbancha is on the rise.

By combining the "Non-Ichibancha" production in the same graph, we can see this trend to be a little more evident.

Source: https://www.maff.go.jp/j/seisan/tokusan/cha/attach/pdf/ocha-22.pdf

The Yonbancha is growing rapidly. What was 18.5 tons of production only back in 2015, has grown to 22.9 tons in 2019. This is because cheaper Yonbanchas are commonly used in cheaper drinks.

While these trends are certainly not welcome for tea lovers who like to appreciate the true taste and experience of quality tea, there is one silver lining.

Matcha has become globally popular, and the production of Tencha (which is the crude tea form of Matcha) has increased significantly across the years.

The Tencha production has incredibly increased across these past few decades. What was only 648 tons in 1989 has multiplied almost by six times to 3660 tones in 2018.