There is a small city in central Japan called Nishio. To get there by train, you take a scenic three-and-a-half-hour ride from Tokyo, past Mount Fuji and the rippling Pacific coastline. Nishio itself looks unremarkable: quiet residential blocks that you could find anywhere in Japan, a few restaurants, all surrounded by flat parcels of green farmland.
But mention the city to tea aficionados and they will immediately respond: matcha.
As Maine is known for lobster and Kentucky for bourbon, the fields of Nishio are famed for growing a variety of Camellia sinensis, the mother plant from which most teas (green or black) are made. The leaves from this plant are eventually stone ground and turned into some of the world’s finest matcha, a bright-green powder of tea.
What makes this brew so special? Perhaps it’s the taste: smooth, bracing, slightly bitter. Perhaps it’s the mystical, centuries-old ritual of pouring the ground tea into a heated cup, carefully adding hot water, and mixing them together with a small bamboo whisk until the liquid is light and frothy. Perhaps it’s the nutrients.
Unlike other green teas, which are steeped, matcha is mixed directly into the water and fully ingested, which gives you a bigger boost of antioxidants, caffeine, and L-theanine, an amino acid that devotees say creates a super calm, focused mental state. In ancient Japan, people thought matcha had magical properties, and samurai warriors drank it to stay alert during battle.
Nishio’s spring harvest—a weeklong event—brings the entire town together. Kids take off school, the streets are strung with tiny white flags depicting green leaves and bamboo whisks, and practically everyone in town, from teens to 80 year olds, helps pick tea. After the harvest, the leaves are steamed, air-dried inside giant netted chambers, chopped up, and sealed in airtight bags in a farmhouse not far from the fields. There, each batch of matcha is ground to order in a mill made from hand-hewn granite until it has a texture finer than baby powder.
Today, matcha is available everywhere from high-end coffeehouses to roadside 7-Elevens. But matcha from Nishio is still viewed as the crème de la crème. There, far from Japan’s megacities, the soil is rich and the water pristine, conditions that produce an intensely flavorful, nutrient-rich brew.
There are plenty of ways to experience matcha in Nishio that go beyond tea.
Courtesy of Motoki Tonn/Unsplash
Tips on visiting Nishio
How to visit
Nishio is about an hour-long train ride from Nagoya, so you can visit the small city on a day trip. Take the Meitetsu express train from Nagoya Station, which departs about once an hour. A one-way ticket costs around $6.
Where to sample Nishio’s matcha
There are several places in town, including Syoukakuen Sabousayu and Aoi Seicha, offering matcha in its classical tea form and infusing matcha into foods ranging from parfaits to soba noodles. Aoi Seicha also offers field and factory tours.
When to visit
There isn’t a bad time to visit Nishio, although you may want to skip Golden Week, when many Japanese take their spring vacations, to avoid the crowds. But come at the right time and Nishio will be especially festive: There’s the Nishio Gion Festival, when a portable shrine is carried from Ibun Shrine to Nishio Castle. There’s also the Mikawa Isshiki Lantern Festival, during which 12 giant lanterns are released in August to drive away demons.
This article was originally published in 2016; it was updated on August 14, 2024, to include current information.
