Japan’s new geographic indicator (GI) aims to authenticate and protect Japanese green teas.
The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently registered a new geographical indication (GI) for Japanese tea or nihoncha, focusing specifically on green teas. According to The Japan Times, the Japanese Tea GI, represented by a red sun shining over a stylized silhouette of Mount Fuji, aims to help further drive Japanese tea exports and protect domestically produced teas amid a global boom in the production and sale of powdered green tea and matcha.
Simona Suzuki, tea educator and co-founder of the Global Japanese Tea Association, regards the new GI as a vital step towards protecting the authenticity of teas marketed as Japanese, commenting in response to the recent announcement that, “As Japanese teas have grown in popularity, production of teas marketed under Japanese tea names in other countries has increased dramatically and, in some cases, even surpassed domestic production. The timing suggests that the government recognized an increasing need to protect Japanese tea, particularly matcha.”
The numbers seem to agree. Last year, for the first time since 1954, Japanese tea exports exceeded 10,000 tons, largely due to a weakened yen and surge in matcha production as global demand continued to skyrocket. Powdered green tea and matcha exports made up more than half of Japanese tea exports. Despite this growth, Japan’s total matcha production still trails far behind China, which is expected to contribute 70% of global matcha production this year. Smaller volumes of matcha are also being produced in Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan.
What the Japan Tea GI Includes
The current definition of the nihoncha GI focuses on green teas produced all around Japan, making Japanese tea the country’s second GI since sake to include production regions throughout the nation rather than designate a specific area.
Green teas account for around 95% of Japan’s annual tea production and include teas commonly associated with Japan, such as sencha, bancha, hojicha, gyokuro, and matcha, among others. However, there are a few other locally produced teas that slip through the cracks, including Japanese black, white, and oolong teas, as well as rare types of teas only found in Japan that preserve unique traditional processing methods, such as goishicha.
In a recent Specialty Matcha Podcast blog post, tea blogger Ryan Ahn expressed concerns that the GI’s exclusion of the other 5% of teas produced in Japan limits the protections that those teas would otherwise receive. “Japan’s own agriculture ministry sorts tea into six classes by fermentation,” Ahn wrote. “The GI recognizes one.”
Simona Suzuki sees this as a minor setback in the overall picture. “A GI product specification is not completely set in stone and can be amended over time,” she comments. “Using the term Japanese tea leaves room for the scope to be expanded in the future. Of course it is disappointing that producers of Japanese wakocha, oolongcha, white tea, and post-fermented teas have been left outside the initial scope of the GI. Nevertheless, the use of the term Japanese tea provides a framework within which these teas could be included in the future. I see it as a much-needed first step toward protecting Japanese tea, rather than the final word on what Japanese tea encompasses.”
In the meantime, consumers searching for green teas produced in Japan can keep their eyes open for the Japanese tea or nihoncha label.