Rich fatty tuna melting in the mouth, paired with large salmon roe bursting with umami flavor that fills the palate.

At lunchtime, people were enjoying a rather luxurious lunch at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in Yokohama.

When you want a moment to relax, that’s when tea comes in handy.

Customer: If I’m having sushi, I prefer to have tea.

Customer: Sushi and tea go together like a set.

Though an indispensable part of having sushi, the wave of rising prices has hit here too...

Yoshikawa Naoto, Supervisor, Sushi Katsu Joinus Yokohama: As of January 1st this year, prices have risen by approximately 1.5 times.

The wholesale price of tea has risen by 1.5 times compared to last year. Measures are being taken to buy it at a slightly lower price by purchasing a year's supply at once.

Yoshikawa Naoto, Supervisor, Sushi Katsu Joinus Yokohama: As we provide it free of charge, it would be great if there were no price increases, but we'll accept it if our supplier decides to raise prices.

Tea prices are rising in supermarkets too.

In stores, you can see rows upon rows of bottled tea.

Actually, these too will see price increases from March 2026.

Brands Oi Ocha and Ayataka will see price hikes of 21 yen, or 14 cents US, per bottle.

We talked to customers at the supermarket about the price hikes.

Customer: It's simple, portable, and ready to drink straight away. I drink it often, so a price increase would be a problem.

Customer: Plastic bottles are just so much more convenient, aren't they? I want to buy them cheaply.

Customer: I buy it by the case about once a week. When I make it at home, it's a hassle to chill the tea when I want to drink it cold. Our household finances are tight right now, so it's tough.

The cause of the price increase is the surge in costs for raw materials and other factors.

According to the tea market in Kagoshima Prefecture, one of Japan's leading tea-producing regions, the average price of tea leaves traded from October to November 2025 surged nearly sixfold compared to the previous year, which is unprecedented.

In Shizuoka Prefecture too, tea leaves have seen a similar sharp price surge. Visiting the production sites revealed the reason why.

NTV Reporter: Are these tea fields?

Harada Masahiko, Tea Farmer: Yes, all of these are tea fields.

NTV Reporter: But they’re former tea fields, right?

Harada Masahiko, Tea Farmer: Yes, that’s right.

NTV Reporter: They’re abandoned?

Harada Masahiko, Tea Farmer: Yes, they’re abandoned.

NTV Reporter: Was this also a tea field?

Harada Masahiko, Tea Farmer: That's right. With producers themselves aging and fewer people taking up the role, the area of tea plantations has been decreasing, and so production volumes have also declined.

It is said that the number of farmers producing Sencha green tea is decreasing year by year due to a lack of successors.

Moreover, the overseas matcha boom is also a large factor in the surge.

At this specialist shop in Tokyo...

NTV Reporter: A huge line has formed.

Since opening three years ago, the shop has often had long lines, with most of the customers being tourists from overseas.

Even in the cold, matcha ice cream lattes were flying off the shelves.

Tourist from the Philipines: This matcha is delicious!

Tourist from Indonesia: I love matcha the most!

Matcha has also been the driving force behind green tea exports, which have more than tripled over the past five years.

Even for the same tea, the cultivation methods for sencha and matcha differ. 

Due to the rapid growth in demand for matcha, an increasing number of farmers are switching to producing tencha, the raw material for matcha.

Farmers say they are bewildered by the unprecedented matcha boom, but they want to continue producing sencha tea leaves.

Harada Masahiko, Tea Farmer: Since it's a traditional Japanese thing, I want to keep it going somehow. I just hope it doesn't become a tea shock.

Even a long-established Tokyo business with 150 years of history is finding itself in a predicament.

Itakura Kazue, Proprietor, Satsukino: As the amount of matcha increases, the amount of sencha decreases; and when the sencha runs out, hojicha will run out too. The wholesaler said that this year, hojicha will cost seven times as much.

Furthermore, genmaicha tea prices have also risen. They are selling it with a reduced amount of tea per package.

Itakura Kazue, Proprietor, Satsukino: It's tough. Business is tough.

According to organizations promoting the current state and appeal of Japanese green tea, there is no prospect of prices stabilizing.