A Fresh Take on a Timeless Tea: Interview with Senchado Tokyo

When many people think of Japanese tea, the vibrant green powder of matcha often comes to mind. It’s a symbol of traditional ceremonies and a popular flavor worldwide. However, the world of Japanese tea is far richer and more diverse. Deep within this culture is sencha, a type of green tea beloved in Japan for its delicate flavors and everyday accessibility, though it remains less known globally.

One Tokyo-based brand is on a mission to change that. Senchado Tokyo aims to “update” the image of sencha, transforming it from a drink sometimes seen as old-fashioned into a staple for the modern lifestyle. With a focus on single-origin leaves sourced directly from farmers across Japan, they emphasize transparency and quality. Their approach combines minimalist design with a deep respect for tradition, making the art of Japanese tea feel fresh, approachable, and exciting again.

We had the pleasure of speaking with the team at Senchado Tokyo to learn more about their passion for sencha, how they balance tradition with contemporary life, and their vision for the future of Japanese tea. Here’s what they had to share about their journey and their passion for sencha:

Could you please introduce yourself and your role at Senchado Tokyo?

I’m Mikito Tanimoto, Director and Creative Director at Green Brewing Inc.

For readers who might not be familiar, could you explain what Senchado Tokyo is and what inspired its creation?

Senchado Tokyo is a specialty shop for single-origin sencha, founded in Ginza in 2017. Our mission is to propose “a lifestyle enriched by delicious tea.” We aim to introduce the culture of terroir to the world of sencha. By offering “single-origin” (from single estates and single varieties) teas sourced from all over Japan, we strive to update the very style of tea itself to align with contemporary values.

The movement began with a sense of crisis that the Japanese cultural asset of “the aesthetics of subtraction” was fading from daily life. We wanted to revive the tea culture deeply rooted in Japanese aesthetics and spirituality. During a visit to a tea factory, we tasted the varietal tea ‘Harumoeji’ and discovered a “shocking flavor” that stood apart from bottled teas. This made us realize tea, like wine and coffee, held the potential for single-origin expression. We decided to create a new category: premium everyday tea, bridging the gap between traditional matcha and functional bottled beverages.

In January 2017, we opened the world’s first hand-drip Japanese tea specialty shop, “Tokyo Saryo,” in Sangenjaya. In November of the same year, we opened “Senchado Tokyo” in Ginza.

Japanese tea is deeply tied to tradition. How does Senchado Tokyo balance this rich cultural heritage with a modern lifestyle approach?

We center our approach on the philosophy of “fueki-ryuko” and “Onko-chishin”. We strive for fusion by boldly changing what needs to be adapted to modern lifestyles, while preserving the essential value of sencha.

The modern world of Japanese tea is polarized between the traditional “tea ceremony” and the efficiency-driven “bottled tea.” Our company is creating a tea culture that exists in the middle, one that can be enjoyed casually and enriches daily life.

Specifically, we have updated the following three areas:

1. Tool Innovation: Development of the “Transparent Teapot”
   Aiming for the first redesign in approximately 260 years since teapots began being used in Japan, we created the “Transparent Teapot,” which is “unbreakable,” “heat-resistant,” and “space-saving.” It has received the Good Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award, and we hold patents for its structure.
2. Experience Refresh: Hand-Drip Style
   At “Tokyo Saryo” in Sangenjaya, baristas use our proprietary dripper to hand-drip each cup of sencha. By meticulously controlling water temperature and steeping time, we offer a recipe that allows the same tea leaves to be enjoyed deliciously up to the third infusion.
3. Scientifically Communicating Information
   We prioritize not only emotional elements but also scientifically explaining why it tastes good — based on brewing temperature, vessel used, and components like amino acids, caffeine, and catechins — to ensure reproducibility.

We noticed that Senchado Tokyo also offers beautifully designed tea utensils and packaging. Could you tell us more about how design plays a role in your brand’s identity?

Design is the most crucial strategy in our pursuit of “updating Japanese tea culture” and serves as the driving force to “update the style of tea itself.”

• Packaging Design Philosophy: The colorful tins used for our single-origin sencha packages visualize the tea leaves’ inherent information (such as firing temperature and steaming time) by converting it into numerical values and then translating these into color expressions via a unique algorithm. This allows customers to intuitively sense the tea leaves’ individuality beyond language barriers.
• Renewing Aesthetic Sensibilities: We broke away from the traditional green-and-brush-script aesthetic associated with Japanese tea. Instead, we refreshed the worldview with a refined, monochromatic palette centered on white, designed to blend seamlessly into the daily lives of today’s younger generation. This serves as a kind of “counterpunch” to conventional sencha design, also intending to question “what tea truly is.”
• Embodiment of Tools: The “Transparent Teapot” became a product embodying the brand’s philosophy through the pursuit of ultimate simplicity. This design, along with the tea leaf packaging, won the Good Design Award in 2018 and also received the Red Dot Design Award.
• Comprehensive Branding: Since autumn 2021, to enrich daily life with tea, we began selling tableware and cutlery by over 70 domestic artisans, continuing our evolution as a comprehensive tea brand.

Many people outside Japan are familiar with matcha but not sencha. What do you think makes sencha special, and what would you recommend for someone tasting it for the first time?

Matcha may be famous, but sencha is what Japanese people drink daily. We believe the world’s interest will shift to sencha after matcha. Containing caffeine, sencha holds significant global potential as a luxury beverage.

Unique Appeal of Sencha:

• Terroir Character: Single-origin sencha showcases distinct flavors and aromas based on region, variety, and producer. Its greatest charm lies in enjoying this diverse world as a luxury beverage.
• Economic Rationality and Sustainability: A mere 4 grams of tea leaves can be steeped up to three times, offering exceptional cost-performance per weight.
• Mild Caffeine: Sencha contains lower caffeine levels compared to matcha, making it a potential daily beverage for children and those sensitive to caffeine.

Recommended Enjoyment for First-Time Drinkers:

First, we encourage you to compare and taste the diverse sencha teas from across Japan. Experiencing the flavor differences will help you discover your favorite tea. We also recommend adding roasted brown rice (“atono-se”) during the third infusion to fully savor the nutty aroma of genmaicha.

You collaborate with tea farmers from various regions. Is there a particular story or experience from one of these producers that has left a strong impression on you?

We don’t just source tea leaves; we also visit tea gardens and value tracing their roots. One particularly memorable experience was visiting producer Mr. Yuki in the remote area of Dosenbo, southern Kyoto Prefecture, in May 2019.

During the first flush harvest season, when we inspected his tea fields, we noticed that despite the picking season, the new buds remained lush and green, as if they hadn’t been picked at all. When we asked Mr. Yuki why, he replied, “Because it’s for Senchado Tokyo, I want to make delicious tea.” This meant Mr. Yuki had set his harvesting height exceptionally high to pick only the softest, uppermost buds.

Witnessing this scene, I felt my heart swell with emotion, realizing that our long-held aspiration — “to create a positive cycle through single-origin sencha” — was beginning to bear fruit right at the producer’s site. This experience has become a major driving force for us to continue our business.

Additionally, inviting Mr. Keiro Sumida, a lifetime master of hand-rolled tea, to Tokyo Saryo and having all our staff experience hand-rolling tea together was an invaluable opportunity to convey the essential value of Japanese tea to the modern era.

Do you have a personal favorite tea or food pairing that you would recommend to our readers?

My favorite sencha is “001 HARUMOEGI (Harumoeji),” available year-round. It has a chestnut-like sweetness and a universally appealing balance, making it my go-to recommendation when introducing green tea to others. I also highly recommend “002 KOUSHUN (Koushun).” It has a sweetness that combines a cinnamon-like fragrance with a refreshing quality, offering satisfaction on its own, making it my go-to when I want to refresh my mood. Customers have also told me that Koushun’s cold brew is exceptional.

For pairings, I recommend combining sencha with Western sweets when black tea or coffee feels too heavy. Pairing it with fragrant sweets, especially citrus-based ones, really brings out the aromas of both. We’ve even served a crispy-fluffy anko butter toast topped with Hokkaido azuki beans and soft-cooked butter as an optimal pairing with hot sencha.

For travelers who want to experience authentic Japanese tea culture beyond your shop, what other areas in Japan would you suggest they visit?

Tea gardens exist all over Japan. Each region has developed its own unique Japanese tea culture and values. This is something I’ve felt traveling all over the country. While Kyoto offers formal tea ceremonies, I find the charm of tea lies in its closeness to nature — be it mountain tea nurtured by river blessings or tea from fields basking in abundant sunlight. In that sense, I believe the best way to truly experience Japanese tea culture is to venture into Japan’s fields and mountains, make prayers at temples and shrines, and breathe in the local air.

At our shop, please also visit “Tokyo Saryo,” the world’s first hand-drip Japanese tea specialty store that we operate. We serve single-origin sencha from single farms and single varieties, brewed using our proprietary dripper in a hand-drip style. We offer a sencha tasting set reminiscent of coffee’s “third wave,” allowing you to experience the wide range of aromas and flavors that different tea leaves offer. Since we are primarily open on weekends and holidays, we recommend making a reservation in advance.

Many people can be intimidated by brewing loose-leaf tea. What is one simple tip you would give someone to help them brew a perfect cup of sencha at home?

The simplest and most effective tip for brewing delicious sencha at home is “controlling the water temperature.” Simply changing the water temperature alters the balance of extracted components in sencha (such as umami-rich amino acids and bitter/astringent catechins), significantly changing the flavor.

We particularly recommend brewing at a lower temperature suited to the specific tea type we provide. If the flavor seems too weak, simply return the tea to the teapot and brew again. There’s no need to worry about formalities when enjoying sencha at home.

Finally, what is your vision for the future of Senchado Tokyo and Japanese tea culture?

Our mission is “to pass on Japanese tea as a world-class cultural treasure to the next generation.”

Future Initiatives:

• Comprehensive Tea Branding: We will continue expanding our offerings beyond sencha to include gyokuro, black tea, Taiwanese oolong, matcha, hojicha, flavored teas, and caffeine-free options, developing into a comprehensive brand meeting diverse customer needs.
• Proposing a Lifestyle with Tea: Beyond our “Transparent Teapot” series, which has surpassed 100,000 units shipped, we are currently collaborating with over 70 artisans to strengthen our lineup of artisanal tableware and tools that enrich daily life with tea.
• Sustainability/Educational Initiatives: We will continue our program of donating “imperfect” transparent teapots (those unsuitable for retail sale but still fully functional) to educational institutions. Through Japanese tea experiences that stimulate the senses of children, the future generation, we hope to contribute to preserving cultural heritage.

We want to distance ourselves from recent trends overly focused on umami, sweetness, or health benefits, instead pursuing enduring, essential values that withstand the test of time. We aim to reexamine our fundamental relationship with nature, guided not by economic logic but by the timeless flow of history woven with tea.

Furthermore, we cherish the appeal of human connection fostered through tea (the act of “having tea”). We strive to create a community where customers can freely say, “I love this tea,” and continue providing a warm space where dedicated fans who appreciate sencha’s depth can gather.

Thank you so much to the Senchado Tokyo team for sharing your passion and insights with us. It’s truly inspiring to see how you are honoring the deep roots of Japanese tea culture while making it accessible and exciting for a new generation.

If you find yourself curious about the world of sencha, we highly recommend exploring what Senchado Tokyo has to offer. Whether you are a seasoned tea lover or just beginning your journey, their dedication to quality and transparency is sure to provide a wonderful experience.

Find out more about Senchado Tokyo:

Website: 

• (Japanese): https://shop.senchado.jp/
• (English): https://en.senchado.jp/

X: https://x.com/senchado_tokyo

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senchado_tokyo/?utm_medium=copy_link

Feature photo credit: Senchado Tokyo

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