Japan Tea Production Map: Interactive 2026 Guide

By Christian Mauerer, Founder of One with Tea · Last reviewed May 7, 2026 against MAFF R6 (2024) Crops Statistics + R7 (2025) first-flush survey

An interactive map of Japan's 10 major tea-producing prefectures with 2025 first-flush production data, tea-type filters, and the rank-flip story of the year: Kagoshima dethroned Shizuoka in first-flush ichibancha for the first time since statistical surveys began in 1991. Click any prefecture for full data. Filter by tea type to see who actually produces what. Sort the data table by any column.

Which Japanese Prefectures Produce the Most Tea?

Japan’s 10 major tea-producing prefectures account for over 95% of national output. Kagoshima leads with 27,000 tons of crude tea in 2024, overtaking Shizuoka’s 25,800 tons for the first time on record. Mie ranks #3 at 5,020 tons (and produces 59% of Japan’s kabusecha). Miyazaki is fourth at 2,640 tons (kamairicha capital, 72% national). Kyoto follows at 2,780 tons. Source: MAFF Crops Statistics R6 (2024).

Notes on the data. MAFF (Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) finalizes prior-year crude-tea figures in mid-following-year, so 2024 finalized is the latest authoritative dataset; the 2025 first-flush survey (R7 ichibancha) was published August 2025. Aichi, Saga, and Nara have been dropped from MAFF’s annual main-prefecture survey since 2020. Figures for those three come from prefectural agriculture bureaus and the All-Japan Tea Producers Federation (全国茶生産団体連合会). Tencha (matcha) sub-volumes by prefecture come from the Sangiin Diet Research Bureau’s December 2025 review, which compiled MAFF data the annual MAFF tables don’t break out per prefecture. See the Sources & Methodology section below for the full source list.

What Region of Japan Is Famous for Matcha?

Matcha comes from tencha, the shade-grown Japanese leaf that gets stone-ground into powder. The four primary tencha-producing prefectures (2023 volumes): Kagoshima 1,585 t (38% national share, now #1), Kyoto/Uji 970 t (23%), Shizuoka 505 t (12%), and Aichi/Nishio 428 t (~10%, +17% YoY). Yame (Fukuoka) and Nara also produce tencha, but exact volumes are not publicly broken out. Source: Sangiin Diet Research / MAFF (Dec 2025).

Until recently the matcha story was simple: Uji + Nishio. That’s now obsolete. Kagoshima passed Kyoto in tencha output by 2023 and the gap is widening. Domestic and export demand has outpaced the historical Uji-Nishio capacity, and MAFF is subsidizing sencha-to-tencha conversion across Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Shizuoka. Kyoto retains brand prestige (the Uji label, the Cool Japan recognition for Takayama chasen, the record ¥500,000/kg gyokuro auction) but it is no longer where most Japanese matcha is grown.

Why This Map Matters in 2026

The map exists because the “Japan tea = Shizuoka” mental model is now wrong. Kagoshima leads in crude tea (27,000 t, 2024), first-flush ichibancha (8,440 t, 2025), and tencha (1,585 t, 2023). Shizuoka still leads sencha and is expanding into tencha. Mie owns kabusecha (59% national), Miyazaki owns kamairicha (72%), Yame owns gyokuro (45%). The map turns a flat “Japanese tea” into a buyer-grade origin breakdown.

For decades, “Japanese tea” in US retail meant Shizuoka. The prefecture had been Japan’s volume leader for more than a century. By 2024 that flipped: Kagoshima passed Shizuoka in total crude tea (27,000 t vs 25,800 t), then took the first-flush ichibancha crown in 2025 (8,440 t vs 8,120 t), the first time on record. Shizuoka still leads sencha and is the second-largest tencha producer (505 t), but the headline rank flipped (Nikkei, Aug 2025).

The MAFF subsidy push to tencha

The Ministry of Agriculture continues to subsidize sencha-to-tencha conversion across Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Shizuoka. Domestic matcha demand has outpaced Uji + Nishio capacity, and a tencha plot pays roughly 2–3x what a sencha plot does at auction. The 2025 first-flush survey shows national first-flush tonnage fell 10% year over year (20,000 t vs 22,300 t in 2024), but tencha volume is rising, and the conversion is the structural story, not the year-on-year noise (MAFF R7 first-flush survey).

What this means for matcha buyers

If you are reading marketing copy that says “premium Japanese matcha” without naming a prefecture, the map is the test for whether that copy means anything. Kagoshima is now the largest tencha origin. Uji is still the prestige finishing region (and under the four-prefecture “Uji-cha” GI rules, leaf grown in Kyoto, Nara, Shiga, or Mie can be finished in Kyoto and labeled Uji-cha). Nishio is the highest-density tencha city. Yame produces gyokuro and tencha but specializes in gyokuro. If a brand can’t name a prefecture, it doesn’t know where its leaf came from.