On Tuesday evening, inside the auditorium at Japan Society, a room filled with cultural enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and the matcha-curious gathered for Matcha: The Next Generation, a conversation and tasting presented as part of the organization’s annual Living Traditions series in partnership with the Government of Japan.
The evening explored the shift in matcha culture from ritualized, ceremonial, and preserved to an evolving and rapidly changing state. Moderated by Rona Tison, Tea Ambassador and Executive Advisor at ITO EN North America, the panel brought together three voices shaping matcha’s future across continents: Masae Shinjo, Founder and CEO of Matcha Tourism Co., Ltd.; Kunikazu Mochitani, Co-Founder of The Matcha Factory; and Silvia Mella, Founder and Creative Director of Sorate.
Japan’s rural tea-growing regions, particularly in areas like Uji and Shizuoka, are facing demographic decline. Aging farmers, shrinking labor pools, and global demand pressures have created a tension between preservation and production. Mochitani spoke to the technological shifts underway with innovations in farming and supply chain transparency that allow producers to maintain quality while adapting to modern market realities.
Shinjo approached the topic from another dimension with tourism and storytelling. Through Matcha Tourism Co., Ltd., she has built immersive experiences that reconnect consumers to origin, to the fields, the farmers, the labor behind the bowl. In an era where matcha is often consumed as a latte or aesthetic accessory, her work reframes it as agricultural heritage. Revitalizing rural communities, she explained, requires not only innovation but visibility by inviting global audiences to witness the process rather than just consume the product. The matcha boom has been shaped by global wellness trends, social media virality, and aesthetic minimalism, but Silvia Mella emphasized intentional growth by ensuring that farmers benefit from the expansion.
Beyond the economics, the panel returned repeatedly to cultivation itself. Matcha production is labor-intensive: shade-growing tea plants weeks before harvest, carefully selecting leaves, steaming, drying, de-stemming, and finally stone-grinding into the luminous green powder. Climate change, labor shortages, and mechanization debates all shape the future of this process. Following the discussion, guests moved into a tasting reception to experience the human experience behind the shift in match and how it’s being recontextualized through technology, tourism, and women-led entrepreneurship. For a beverage often photographed more than understood, the event offered insight on how the industry is balancing preservation with evolution.
