Kagoshima New Tea Season Opens with Record-High Prices Driven by Global Matcha Boom (2026)

Kagoshima's 2026 New Tea Season Opens with Record-High Prices — Driven by Global Matcha Boom

Japan's earliest new tea auction of the year took place on April 6, 2026, at the Kagoshima Prefectural Tea Market in Kagoshima City — and the numbers made history. For American café owners and matcha buyers sourcing directly from Japan, this season's opening tells an important story about supply, demand, and where the Japanese tea market is heading.

Record Prices at Japan's Earliest New Tea Auction

Kagoshima Prefecture — which has held the title of Japan's No. 1 tea-producing prefecture by volume for two consecutive years — opened its 2026 new tea season with a highly competitive first auction (hatsutorihiki, 初取引 — the ceremonial first trading event of the new tea year).

Key figures from the auction:

• 57 lots, approximately 2.1 metric tons of tea were offered
• Tea came from 5 growing regions: Ei (頴娃), Makurazaki (枕崎), Ōnejiime (大根占), Nishinoomote (西之表), and Yakushima (屋久島)
• Average price: ¥6,573/kg — the highest on record, up more than ¥2,400/kg from 2025
• Peak price: ¥30,000/kg — the highest recorded since data collection began in 2010
• 21 professional tea buyers participated in quality assessment

Favorable growing conditions contributed to exceptional quality this season. Mild winter temperatures with no damaging cold spells, combined with well-timed rainfall, resulted in tea leaves described by buyers as having outstanding color, aroma, and leaf development — "the best quality in years," according to one industry participant.

Why Prices Are Surging: The Matcha Boom Effect

The record prices are not simply a reflection of tea quality. A structural shift is happening across Kagoshima's tea industry: farmers are switching from sencha (green tea) cultivation to tencha.

Tencha (碾茶) is the shade-grown raw leaf that, once stone-ground, becomes matcha. As global demand for matcha — particularly from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East — has surged dramatically, Kagoshima tea farmers have found tencha far more profitable than conventional sencha.

The result: sencha has been in short supply since 2025, and the reduced availability of conventional green tea is driving up prices at auction. For US buyers, this is a key market signal — Japanese wholesale matcha demand is competing directly with domestic tea supply, and prices are likely to remain elevated.

A Note on Kagoshima Tea Regions

While Uji (Kyoto) and Yame (Fukuoka) are the most internationally recognized matcha origins, Kagoshima has quietly become Japan's largest tea-producing region by raw leaf volume. Growing areas like Ei and Makurazaki in southern Kagoshima, as well as the island regions of Nishinoomote (Tanegashima) and Yakushima, produce large quantities of both sencha and tencha at competitive prices.

For buyers sourcing bulk matcha for foodservice and café use, Kagoshima-origin matcha represents strong value — particularly in culinary and latte grades.

Supply Chain Watch: Middle East Instability and Fuel Costs

Not all news from the auction floor was positive. Tea industry representatives raised concerns about the impact of Middle East tensions on heavy fuel oil supply. Steam — generated by burning heavy oil — is an essential part of the tea processing chain, used both for steaming fresh leaves (which halts oxidation) and for drying. Any disruption to fuel supply or significant price increases would directly affect production costs.

One Kagoshima exporter that had begun shipping matcha to the Middle East in May 2025 reported that a large confirmed order was cancelled due to distribution difficulties in the region. That business has since redirected supply toward the American market, where demand remains strong.

What This Means for US Matcha Buyers

If you are sourcing Japanese matcha for your café, restaurant, or food business in the United States, here are the key takeaways from this season's opening:

• Japanese matcha supply is tightening as more farmland shifts to tencha production — but this also reflects growing quality focus
• Wholesale prices will likely remain elevated through 2026 compared to prior years
• Early-season quality is excellent — favorable weather has produced a strong first harvest
• US demand is increasingly important to Japanese exporters redirecting supply away from geopolitically uncertain markets
• Secure your supply early — with sencha already in short supply since 2025 and matcha demand growing, delays in procurement planning carry real risk

At Matcha Wholesale Japan, we work directly with Kagoshima and other Japanese tea-producing regions to provide consistent, quality-verified matcha for US foodservice buyers. Contact us to discuss your 2026 supply needs.

Sources:
KKB鹿児島放送 / Yahoo! Japan News (April 6, 2026): https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/58f4dd48c3edf7804895ac1779f6a5ce9524b823
KYT鹿児島読売テレビ / Yahoo! Japan News (April 6, 2026): https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3de5c7d46d905e16c0754bf3fe9199c8efcd8aaf
MBC南日本放送 / Yahoo! Japan News (April 6, 2026): https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6e9a0eaac2bf69784a39e1640f73d61b4d3c2b3f