What is Matcha: Origins and Background

Matcha is a traditional Japanese green tea made from stone-ground tencha. Its origins, how it differs from sencha, and how Japanese tea culture developed from the Kamakura period onward.

By Kosuke Mori · December 17, 2025

What is matcha?

Matcha is a green tea made by grinding tencha (tea leaves that have been steamed and dried without rolling) into a powder using a stone mill or similar equipment. It differs from common sencha and other teas in its cultivation method and processing steps, and is consumed by drinking the powder itself. This definition is also explained by organizations such as the Japan Matcha Association.[1]

Origins and history

Tea culture was established in Japan from the Kamakura period onward, and it is said that the tea brought from Song China by the Zen monk Eisai became its foundation. Cultivation developed in Uji, and the current tea ceremony culture was formed from the Muromachi period through the Azuchi-Momoyama period.[2]

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FAQs

Matcha is a green tea made by grinding tencha — tea leaves that have been steamed and dried without rolling — into a powder using a stone mill. It differs from common sencha in cultivation method and processing, and is consumed by drinking the powder itself rather than steeping leaves.

Tea culture was established in Japan from the Kamakura period onward. The tea brought from Song China by the Zen monk Eisai is said to be the foundation. Cultivation developed in Uji, and the modern tea ceremony culture formed from the Muromachi through Azuchi-Momoyama periods.

Matcha is specifically ground tencha (shade-grown leaves with stems and veins removed). Sencha and most other green teas are not shade-grown to the same degree, are not ground into powder, and are steeped rather than consumed in full leaf form.