Japanese tea and "Matcha" are spreading not only within Japan but also to Asia, Europe, and the United States, creating a major movement against the backdrop of increasing health consciousness and interest in Japanese food. In fact, the volume of Japanese tea exports continues to increase steadily, and the excitement is even featured on terrestrial news programs. In response to this growing global interest, many foreign tourists are visiting Japan, wanting to taste delicious tea in its authentic home. Under these circumstances, Minato City is home to many famous shops that propose new ways to enjoy tea, incorporating modern sensibilities while carefully protecting ancient traditions. This time, we have carefully selected and introduced four unique shops, from a tranquil tea house that makes you forget the hustle and bustle of the city to an open cafe perfect for everyday use, and a new takeout-style shop proposed by a long-established store. We will unravel the profound and new world of Japanese tea.

On Kotto Dori in Minami Aoyama, there was "Matsubaya Saryo / Hakobune GALLERY," like a hideaway that makes you suddenly forget the busyness of the city. Taking a step inside, a tranquil space with intentionally dimmed lighting expands. The appearance of seasonal bonsai, antique art, and contemporary art emerging illuminated by soft light is as if you have wandered into another world.

Precisely because of the darkness, you can focus only on what is in front of you and enjoy the delicate branching of bonsai and the texture of antique art.

The shop is equipped with a one-mat tea room, "Ryokukan-an," created by Tsubaki Architectural Design Institute, offering a sound treatment experience that calms the minds of visitors not only through sight and taste but also through the "ma" (space/pause) and "silence" possessed by the space itself.

The tea offered centers on carefully selected "single origin" tea leaves from contract farmers nationwide. Many of the tea leaves, where you can feel the local terroir, are grown with pesticide-free and organic cultivation, and staff members reportedly even visit the production areas to experience tea picking.

Their commitment to brewing methods is thorough, adjusting the extraction temperature and time by the second to maximize the tea leaves' natural sweetness and umami. In addition to Sencha, they also have Gyokuro, and the cup carefully brewed right in front of you across the counter has a rich umami that spreads like dashi stock, with a gentle taste that suppresses bitterness.

The recommended menu item is the "Matcha Tiramisu," finished by sprinkling fragrant matcha after receiving an order. Because it is made with only simple ingredients without additives, the aftertaste is surprisingly light. Also popular is the "Nicha Nika" (Two Teas, Two Sweets) course, where you can freely combine several types of tea and sweets. You can enjoy your own pairing tailored to your mood that day. It is said that you can taste fresh sweets made every morning at the workshop in the same building.

A wide range of people visit the store, with surprised voices from foreign tourists saying, "I didn't know there was a place where you could feel Zen so quietly in the middle of Tokyo," and young Japanese generations taking pictures of their favorite character's acrylic stands together with bonsai. Events where you can experience seasonal traditional activities, such as a shimenawa (sacred rope) making workshop at the end of the year and mochi pounding, are also reportedly well received.

In the modern age where Japanese traditional culture and agricultural techniques are being lost, "Matsubaya Saryo / Hakobune GALLERY" wishes to be a place to reconstruct Japanese aesthetics such as tea, bonsai, and architecture with modern sensibilities and connect them to the next generation and the world. In today's world surrounded by digital devices, this shop might truly be called a "shelter for the heart." Why not spend a quiet time facing yourself along with the finest cup of tea?

<<Matsubaya Saryo / Hakobune GALLERY>>
Barbizon104 1F, 5-4-27 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00 - 20:00 (L.O. 19:30)
Closed: Irregular holidays
*For other details, please visit the official website below.
https://mtbysr.jp/

With the concept of "bringing gentle time to daily life at a town tea house," "CHAYA 1899 TOKYO" is a Japanese tea specialty cafe integrated with a hotel in the Shimbashi/Onarimon area. It is a brand handled by "Ryumeikan," a long-established hotel and restaurant operator, and bears the founding year 1899 in its name. Inside the cafe, ingenuity to feel the charm of tea with the five senses is scattered everywhere, and modern openness and traditional Japanese warmth harmonize comfortably.

The interior has a calm atmosphere, imagining the "engawa" (veranda) of a Japanese house where sunlight filters through the trees.In the bright glass-walled space, you can enjoy chatting or reading while having tea. It seems you can spend your time freely.

Pendant lights with Japanese umbrella motifs catch the eye. Also, pay attention to the floor tiles expressing the combination of four and a half tatami mats and tea boxes placed as interior decoration.

Lined up on the shelves at the back of the cafe are packages of tea sweets and numerous tea utensils shining with artisanal handiwork. Furthermore, Western books unraveling the history of matcha and specialized books on matcha sweets are arranged, proposing a "life with tea" that goes beyond mere display.

What you definitely want to taste when visiting this shop is the signature product "Rokusencha." It is an original tea blended exclusively for this brand by skilled tea master Keiji Miyano, using tea leaves carefully selected from six famous tea production areas: Kakegawa, Honyama, Sayama, Yame, Miyakonojo/Kushima, and Chiran. Taking a sip, rich umami spreads throughout your mouth, followed by refreshing astringency and green aroma remaining as a pleasant aftertaste.

For the first infusion, the staff thoroughly manages the temperature and serves it in the most delicious state. After that, you can enjoy the change in taste with the second and third infusions using the attached hot water bottle with your own hands.

Receiving enthusiastic support from matcha lovers is the "Koicha Latte." Its feature is that you can choose the amount of matcha used in 4 levels from 3g to 6g. Being able to pursue your preferred strength is a happy point unique to a specialty store. The rich matcha flavor and the mellowness of milk melt together, and the refreshing bitterness becomes an accent, creating a taste you'll want to drink again and again.

Sweets such as matcha bread, sake tea cake, and gelato are also recommended. The "Koicha" gelato, using 3.5% of high-quality Uji matcha also used in tea ceremonies, is simply exquisite. The meal menu is also extensive, and the "Japanese Dashi Keema Curry," which advanced to the finals of the Kanda Curry Grand Prix for three consecutive years, is a popular lunch menu item.

At "CHAYA 1899 TOKYO," they also focus on activities to spread the enjoyment of tea, such as regularly holding a Japanese tea seminar called "Tea College" every month. It seems there are many customers who become fascinated by the deep world of tea triggered by the experience at the store. Cherishing the word "Ichigo Ichie" (once-in-a-lifetime encounter) from the world of tea and entertaining with wholehearted hospitality, this shop can be said to be a "modern tea house" where you can relax from the bottom of your heart while being in the middle of the city.

<<CHAYA 1899 TOKYO>>
Hotel 1899 Tokyo 1F, 6-4-1 Shimbashi, Minato-ku,
TokyoHours: Breakfast 7:30 - 10:30, Cafe 11:00 - 17:00 (L.O. 16:30)
Closed: Irregular holidays
*For other details, please visit the official website below.
https://1899.jp/hotels/tokyo/chaya-1899-tokyo/

Azabudai Hills is attracting attention as a new landmark in Tokyo. Located in its Garden Plaza B is the "Nakamura Tokichi Azabudai Store," which opened in November 2023 as a takeout format of the long-established store with its main branch in Uji, Kyoto. Since its founding in the first year of Ansei, Nakamura Tokichi, which has pursued the essence of tea, is broadcasting the charm of Japanese tea here with a new style centered on takeout.

What catches the eye first is the Japanese tea tasting space right next to the noren curtain. Under the guidance of staff, you can experience the differences in aroma and taste while sampling about 10 types of tea at all times, such as Sencha, Gyokuro, and Hojicha.

Once you find your favorite tea, you can enjoy it straight, or enjoy it as an arranged menu or dessert drink. The process of choosing the perfect cup for yourself is exciting in itself.

Nakamura Cha, bearing the shop's name, is a special blended tea made by combining seven types of tea leaves with different properties, such as Sencha and Gyokuro, in a secret ratio. By blending multiple tea leaves with secret ratios and methods, it is finished so that anyone can brew and taste it deliciously. Mellow, yet refreshing. Light, yet rich. Its greatest charm is being able to enjoy a protean taste, where the coolness of Sencha stands out or the profound umami of Gyokuro appears depending on the temperature.

The matcha latte "Matcha (Thin Tea) and Milk," where the rich aroma stands out, is also recommended. "Tencha," the raw material for matcha, accumulates umami components by being grown while blocking sunlight and becomes very fine and fragrant particles by being carefully ground with a stone mill. The latte made by adding milk to this high-quality matcha features deep, mellow sweetness and profound aroma. In response to rising health consciousness, it is said that more people are customizing to their liking, such as changing milk to oat milk or soy milk, or enjoying the original taste of matcha without syrup.

Maruto Drink [Matcha], which combines matcha raw tea jelly, matcha crumble, cream, etc., with a tea base, is popular as a "drinkable Japanese tea sweet." "Maruto" is also the trade name of "Nakamura Tokichi," and the design of a "cross in a circle" is applied to the surface of the drink.

At the Azabudai store, in addition to tea and dessert drinks, merchandise sales such as tea bags and sweets are also extensive. It might be good to drop by casually in between shopping and strolling at Azabudai Hills. "Nakamura Tokichi Azabudai Store" makes proposals tailored to the modern sense of speed and lifestyle while cherishing traditional techniques. Through tea tasting, dialogue with staff, and original drink menus, you will surely realize the new charm of Japanese tea.

<<Nakamura Tokichi Azabudai Store>>
Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B (B1F), 5-9-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku,
TokyoHours: 10:00 - 20:00
Closed: Business hours and closed days follow Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza
*For other details, please visit the official website below.
https://tokichi.jp/

About a 10-minute walk from Omotesando Station towards the Nezu Museum.Located just past the street lined with many fashion brand stores is "Ippodo Tea Co. Aoyama Store," which opened on August 29, 2025.

The store is on the 2nd floor of the building up the stairs. Not only is there a sales area for many types of Japanese tea such as Matcha, Gyokuro, Sencha, and Bancha (Hojicha and Genmaicha), but there is also a tea room where you can experience tea brewing methods and ideas for enjoying tea, as well as irregularly held tea events, creating a space where you can enjoy various things related to tea.

Ippodo Tea Co. was founded in 1717. It is a long-established store that has sincerely faced Japanese tea for over 300 years. Centered on the Kyoto main store, it continues to evolve with the times and currently delivers Japanese tea to many people both domestically and internationally.Ippodo Tea Co. Aoyama Store centered its store planning on the wish to be a place that can deliver a moment to quietly face tea leaves in the center of the city, with the concept of "Encountering Tea Leaves in Aoyama."

Matcha "SEIZAN (Aoyama)" created for the Aoyama store. Unlike the profound feeling of Ippodo's regular matcha, it is said to feature a refreshing and light taste with suppressed bitterness. You can firmly feel the umami, and it is finished so that even those unfamiliar with matcha can enjoy it, whether as thick tea or thin tea.

The food menu is also distinctive. Menus that expand the world of Japanese tea are lined up, such as a set of toast from "Bakery Shiomi" with jam by Hiroko Tanaka, presided by CrēAPA, and tea, a combination of Dashi Inari Kaigi's dashi inari and tea, and "Matcha Gourmand" to taste 3 types of matcha.

Staff knowledgeable about tea are stationed at the store, and you can choose from a variety of Japanese teas lined up in the sales area, such as Matcha, Gyokuro, Sencha, and Bancha (Hojicha/Genmaicha), ranging from those easy to incorporate into daily life to brands suitable for gifts, while consulting with the staff.Also, tools such as teapots to make tea time more delicious and comfortable are extensive. They are beautifully laid out in the sales area.In the spring of 2026, "Room Ippodo" equipped with kitchen facilities is scheduled to open in Kojimachi, Tokyo. While collaborating with the Aoyama store, creation of a place where you can experience the worldview of Ippodo more three-dimensionally is being conceived.Why not spend a moment quietly facing tea leaves at Ippodo Tea Co. Aoyama Store existing in the center of the city?

<<Ippodo Tea Co. Aoyama Store>>
2F, 4-23-6 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00 - 18:00 (L.O. 17:30)
Closed: Mondays
*For other details, please visit the official website below.
https://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/pages/store-aoyama