The first Uji tea market, announcing the arrival of the new tea season, was held on April 23, 2025, at the JA Zennoh Kyoto Uji Tea Distribution Center in Terada, Joyo City, Kyoto Prefecture. Daimon Kanbayashi (Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture) won the bid for hand-rolled sencha from Wazuka Town, Kyoto Prefecture, at 252,025 yen per kilogram, the highest price ever.
Gyokuro was exhibited at the market for the first time since the market opened in 1974, and was purchased by Kyoei Tea (Uji City) for 388,000 yen per kilogram, exceeding the highest price for sencha.
85 pieces of sencha, totaling 805.7 kilograms, were exhibited from Wazuka Town, Minamiyamashiro Village, and Ujitawara Town in Kyoto Prefecture, and the average price was 16,637 yen per kilogram, 2,366 yen higher than last year. With the increase in visitors from within Kyoto Prefecture, traders appear to have anticipated an increase in demand for sencha, following tencha. One kilogram of gyokuro was offered from Uji city.
130 people from 70 tea traders picked up the rows of sample tea leaves in their hands, checked their color and aroma, and finally tasted the brewed tea before deciding on the bid price.
Trading at the distribution center will continue until early August. Tencha, the raw material for matcha, is expected to be offered for auction from around May 10th.
