Tea Style Evolution進化する“お茶”スタイル

Japanese tea, or green tea, is commonly served to show hospitality to guests and is also consumed regularly out of plastic bottles. Matcha, which is powdered green tea, is currently popular outside of Japan to an unprecedented degree and is becoming a standard refreshment. Japan, too, is taking another look at the value of its traditional tea, and specialty tea stores expanding the horizons of Japanese tea have been drawing attention. The world of tea is evolving with new concepts and styles of presentation. Here we look at some of the forms and possibilities of contemporary Japanese tea being developed in Tokyo.

Shinya Sakurai, president of Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience and a tea master at Saboe, delves deeply into the wonders of Japanese tea to discover the most fitting brewing methods, vessels and flavors. Japanese tea is so commonplace in Japan not many people take it up as a pursuit, and, unlike coffee or wine, there are not many establishments dedicated to the enjoyment of tea, let alone places to learn about it. Taking stock of this less-than-ideal situation, Sakurai decided to utilize his extensive experience in the world of tea and open a café dedicated to Japanese tea.

Sakurai takes great care in selecting teas from Japan’s tea regions, but roasting is his true specialty.

“It is not only a matter of where the tea leaves are grown,” he explains. “Depending on how the tea is roasted, whether light, medium or dark, you can enjoy flavors and aromas not normally associated with Japanese tea. Unlike unroasted tea, you just pour hot water over the top to brew roasted tea, so it’s simple, plus it’s fragrant and highly drinkable. Within the world of Japanese tea, roasted green tea is particularly interesting, and if presented well, I think that people around the world would truly enjoy it.”

At his Minami-Aoyama café, customers choose a favorite from among a number of tea leaf samples, which is then roasted right in front of them using an unglazed earthenware roasting pan called a horoku.

The roasted tea is then brewed and presented. The tea is served to customers across a bar while incorporating elements from traditional Japanese tea rooms and aesthetics as well as from tea traditions originating in China and Taiwan. Sakurai is a former bartender and has a deep knowledge of the Way of Tea; his movements as he prepares the tea are so beautiful you may find yourself staring. The café also offers tea courses, seasonal blends, and tea cocktails, which are popular among customers of all nationalities.

When you try Japanese tea and deepen your knowledge of it, you are at the start of a more profound experience of Japanese culture.

Japanese tea is produced in some 100 regions around Japan. Tea leaves from different regions are generally blended together to ensure the stability of the tea supply, but recently more shops and cafés are serving single-origin teas－one variety from one producer－like is already done with coffee and chocolate.

Tokyo Saryo, an “experiential” tea café produced by a design firm, is focused exclusively on single-origin Japanese tea and employs the world’s first hand-drip brewing apparatus. Coffee-loving creative director Mikito Tanimoto says he started the café after drinking Harumoegi green tea from Kagoshima Prefecture and being shocked by how delicious it was. Japanese tea has been brewed in a special teapot for centuries and there are many shapes and sizes of tea implements, but the shop’s original dripper was designed, he tells us, “to ensure that everyone is able to consistently brew delicious Japanese tea.” The café also follows set procedures for the amount of tea leaves and hot water as well as the brewing time, and its staff consists of former bartenders and barristers with extensive knowledge of beverages, so nothing is overlooked.

Another new establishment in Tokyo provides Japanese tea in a casual, café-like atmosphere without the traditional trappings. Hachiya in Sendagaya and Daikanyama (closed May 2021) is a Japanese tea stand that provides added value in the form of shared office and salon space. The stand’s interior, the work of a fashion designer, is a modern Japanese space that expresses the nation’s distinctive aesthetic. It serves green tea, roasted and unroasted, brewed in Gyokusendo teapots made with hand-hammered copperware, an official Intangible Cultural Property, tea lattes made one cup at a time with bamboo tea whisks, and highly original combinations like sparkling iced tea. People come by with their workmates or drop in on their way home to enjoy a cup of tea and some friendly conversation. The café has become an integral part of the community.

Gen Gen An in Udagawacho, Shibuya, a district known for its youthful street culture, looks similar to a bar where young people congregate, but it is actually a tea shop that serves “your daily tea.” It was started by proprietor Hirotoshi Maruwaka and tea master Shunichi Matsuo of Ureshino, Saga Prefecture in Kyushu, one of Japan’s traditional tea-producing regions. A specialist was employed as master blender and created the tea brand En Tea; this is the brand’s concept shop and its activities extend overseas. Inside, customers can enjoy cold-brewed tea, in which the tea is extracted by shaking a vial like a cocktail shaker, along with tea blended with medicinal Chinese herbs for a new take on the energy drink. The stand also serves as a creative hub for everyone from creative professionals and entrepreneurs to skateboarders and overseas travelers.

Currently, Gen Gen An is actively partnering with tea producers around Japan to help preserve the industry into the future. “Even though we’ve broken free of tradition, we want the flavor to be Japan’s best,” Maruwaka explains. “Just as the tea ceremony is an enriched form of communication, we hope that through Japanese tea people will experience once-in-a-lifetime encounters with others.”

Freer in spirit and expression, Japanese tea today continues to evolve.