The World Ran Short of Matcha. Tokyo Is Still the Best Place to Drink It.

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I drink matcha at home, the ordinary way: a bowl, a whisk, and hot water. So I noticed before any headline told me. The matcha I buy for home kept getting more expensive.

Matcha used to be the quiet part of Japanese food culture. Now it is a global commodity. Demand grew faster than tea farms could respond: the shaded tea leaves used for matcha, called tencha, come from bushes that take years to reach full production, and there are only so many growers who know how to make it well. Through 2025 and into 2026, auction prices for top Uji tencha rose sharply, and some tea shops in Japan began limiting how much matcha one customer can buy.

That sounds like bad news for a visitor. It is actually the opposite. The scarcer good matcha becomes abroad, the more it is worth drinking it here, where the tea makers themselves run the cafés and a bowl in a 17th-century garden still costs about what you would pay for a latte in London.

This guide is not a ranking. It is a way to choose, depending on what you actually want from matcha.

First, What You Are Ordering

Two words cover most of what you will see on a Japanese menu.

Usucha (薄茶), “thin tea”: matcha whisked with hot water until frothy. This is what you get with a sweet at a teahouse. Light, grassy, slightly bitter.
Koicha (濃茶), “thick tea”: far more matcha, far less water, kneaded rather than whisked into something close to paint. Intense and almost sweet. Rarely offered casually; if you see it, try it once.

Matcha lattes and desserts use matcha as an ingredient. They are good, and there is nothing inauthentic about them. But if you have only ever had matcha with milk, order it plain at least once in Japan. The difference is the point of the trip.

One more thing: “ceremonial grade” is a marketing label used outside Japan. Japanese tea shops do not grade matcha that way. They sell by name and by price, and the price tells you more than any label.

For the Traditional Experience: Nakajima no Ochaya, Hamarikyu Gardens

If you drink matcha only once in Tokyo, drink it here.

Nakajima no Ochaya is a teahouse on a small island in the tidal pond of Hamarikyu Gardens, a former shogunate garden on Tokyo Bay. You cross a long wooden bridge, sit facing the water, and receive a bowl of matcha with a seasonal Japanese sweet. Behind the pines, the glass towers of Shiodome rise straight out of the Edo period. No other view in the city puts the two Tokyos so close together.

The set is simple: a bowl of matcha, hot or iced, with either a seasonal jonamagashi (a delicate sweet shaped after the season’s plants) or a dorayaki. You pay garden admission to get in.

Best for: first-timers who want the real thing without a formal tea ceremony.
Timing: the teahouse closes before the garden does. Go in the morning or early afternoon.

For Matcha From the Makers: ATELIER MATCHA, Higashi-Ginza

ATELIER MATCHA is run with Yamamasa Koyamaen, a matcha producer from Uji, Kyoto, the region most associated with Japanese tea. Having a tea maker behind the counter changes what is possible: the café can serve high-quality matcha in casual forms without the price of a formal tearoom.

The menu leans modern, with matcha drinks and desserts designed around the tea rather than hiding it. It opens early, which makes it a good first stop before walking into Ginza.

Best for: people who love matcha drinks and want to taste the difference good tea makes.
Note: closed on Tuesdays. It sits on the quieter eastern edge of Ginza, away from the main shopping streets.

For a Parfait With History: Hibiya Hayashiya Shinbei, Tokyo Midtown Hibiya

Hayashiya Shinbei is the Tokyo café of Kyo Hayashiya, an Uji tea house with more than 270 years of history. It is on the second floor of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, directly connected to Hibiya Station, and open into the evening.

This is where to try a matcha parfait done properly: layers built around matcha that is strong enough to stand up to cream and sweet beans. The café also serves meals at set times.

Best for: dessert, a rainy day, or an evening when most teahouses have closed.
Nearby: the Imperial Palace outer gardens and Ginza are both within walking distance. See our Ginza guide.

For a Matcha Stop in Asakusa: Hatoya Asakusa

Hatoya Asakusa is the Tokyo branch of a Kyoto Japanese-tea stand, set in a renovated old wooden house in Hanakawado, on the quieter side of Asakusa. It uses first-flush tea, and the matcha latte and matcha pudding are what most people come for.

It works best as a pause between Senso-ji and the Sumida River, not as a destination on its own. See our Asakusa guide for the rest of the neighborhood.

Best for: a short break while exploring Asakusa.
Note: it closes in the late afternoon and has irregular holidays.

For Matcha Dessert in a Design Hotel: safn°, KAIKA Tokyo

safn° is the café on the ground floor of KAIKA Tokyo by THE SHARE HOTELS, an art-focused hotel in Honjo, Sumida. The space is industrial, the neighborhood is residential, and there are almost no tourists.

The signature is a matcha pudding affogato: a rich pudding finished with matcha sauce, affogato-style.

Best for: people staying on the east side, or pairing with a walk from Kuramae.
Note: the café opens early, but the signature dessert is served only from late morning.

Buying Matcha to Take Home

Buy from a tea specialist, not a souvenir shop. Department store food halls and tea makers’ own shops let you taste and ask. Generic “matcha” souvenirs are often low-grade powder for baking.
Expect limits. With the shortage, some shops limit how many tins one customer can buy. Buy what you need, not what you might need.
Smaller is better. Matcha loses aroma quickly once opened. A small tin you finish in a month beats a large bag that goes stale.
Check the tax refund rules. From November 1, 2026, tax-free purchases are refunded at departure, and food items you consume in Japan are not refunded. See our guide to the new tax refund system.

Local Tips

Buy your matcha where locals do: the depachika. The basement food halls of Tokyo’s department stores are where I would send anyone shopping for tea. Several tea makers sit side by side, so you can compare names and prices in one place instead of trusting a single souvenir shelf. Staff are used to questions, gift wrapping is part of the service, and many department stores handle tax-free procedures for the whole building.
Go plain first, then sweet. Taste matcha on its own before you try it in a latte or parfait. Otherwise the cream decides what you think of it.
Morning is matcha time. Teahouses close earlier than cafés, and the most popular desserts sell out. Plan matcha before lunch, not after dinner.
Eat the sweet before you drink. At a teahouse, the sweet comes first so that the bitterness of the matcha lands on a sweet palate. That order is intentional.
Iced matcha is not a compromise. In Tokyo’s summer heat, iced matcha is what locals drink too.

Practical Info

Place	Area / Access	Hours (check before visiting)	Best for
Nakajima no Ochaya	Hamarikyu Gardens, near Shiodome	9:00–16:45, last order 16:30 (garden admission required)	Traditional matcha and sweets
ATELIER MATCHA	Ginza 8-chome, Higashi-Ginza side	Around 8:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays	Matcha drinks from an Uji maker
Hibiya Hayashiya Shinbei	Tokyo Midtown Hibiya 2F, Hibiya Station	11:00–22:00, last order 21:00	Parfaits, late visits
Hatoya Asakusa	Hanakawado, 5 min from Asakusa Station (Exit 7)	11:00–17:00 (weekends and holidays from 10:00), irregular holidays	A break in Asakusa
safn°	KAIKA Tokyo 1F, Honjo (Sumida)	Early morning to late evening; signature dessert from 10:00	Matcha pudding affogato

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