Explainer · Buying matcha

Japanese vs Chinese matcha.

Matcha is made in both countries, and plenty of Australian cafes have quietly switched. What actually differs, what it costs, and how to tell which one you are buying.

LLauren PollockOperations manager, TeafyPublished 11 November 20265 min read

Two small bowls of matcha powder side by side on a wooden board, one vivid jade and one slightly duller green

The short answer

Matcha is made in both Japan and China. Japanese matcha is milled from tencha, shaded tea leaf from regions such as Uji, Shizuoka and Kagoshima, and costs more. Chinese matcha style powders are usually cheaper and vary widely. Neither is fake if it is labelled honestly; the problem is labels that hide origin. In Australia the word matcha itself is not protected, but origin claims must not mislead.

In this guide
  1. What you need to know
  2. How each is made
  3. The price gap, in real numbers
  4. Myth and fact
  5. What Australian labels must and must not say
  6. What Uji, Shizuoka and Kagoshima should mean
  7. A five step label check
  8. Questions people ask
  9. Sources

What you need to know

  1. Origin is not a quality score on its own. There are poor Japanese powders and decent Chinese ones.
  2. But they are different products. Japanese matcha has a supply chain built around shading, tencha drying and slow milling.
  3. If it says Japanese, it must be Japanese. Origin claims fall under the Australian Consumer Law.
  4. The label is your only tool. Look for the country, the prefecture and the harvest.

How each is made

Side by side
Japanese matcha
VS
Chinese matcha style powder
Tencha: shaded, steamed, dried flat, deveined
Leaf
Varies: some shaded tencha, some ground green tea
Kagoshima, Uji (Kyoto), Shizuoka, Nishio (Aichi)
Main regions
Commonly Guizhou and Zhejiang
Stone, bead or jet mills
Milling
Mostly mechanical mills
Sweet, savoury, gentle bitterness
Typical taste
Often grassier and more astringent
Higher, and rising in 2026
Price
Lower
How they usually taste

Our tasting notes, scored 1 to 5. Individual products vary widely.

UmamiSweetnessColourSmoothnessAstringency
Japanese first flush
Sweet, savoury, bright.
Typical Chinese powder
Grassier, more drying.

The price gap, in real numbers

What one Melbourne cafe reported paying, Chinese = 1
Japanese, similar grade
3.7×
Chinese, tier three
1×
SBS News, October 2025.

SBS News reported in October 2025 that a Melbourne cafe owner was paying nearly four times as much for Japanese matcha as for tier three Chinese matcha of a similar grade. That gap is why many cafes have switched.

The flow is not one way. Japan itself imported 82% more green tea in fiscal 2025, 5,801 t in total (The Japan Times, May 2026).

Myth and fact

Myth
Fact
Chinese matcha is fake
It is real powdered tea. It is just not Japanese matcha.
Japanese means top quality
Japan makes culinary and low grades too. Check the harvest.
You can tell by colour alone
Colour helps, but processing and age change it. Read the label.
Matcha is a protected name
It is not, in Australia or internationally. Uji can be a trademark; matcha cannot.
Someone knows how much fake matcha exists
Japan's agriculture department told ABC it is impossible to give a number.

What Australian labels must and must not say

  1. No misleading origin. Under the Australian Consumer Law a business must not mislead you about where a product comes from. A Chinese powder sold with Japanese imagery and the word Uji would be a problem.
  2. Matcha is not a protected word. ABC News reported in December 2025 that matcha labelling is almost completely unregulated, and that while Uji matcha can be trademarked, matcha cannot.
  3. No specific enforcement yet. We found no ACCC or food regulator action specific to matcha origin claims from 2024 to 2026. Your best protection is a clear label.

What Uji, Shizuoka and Kagoshima should mean

On the label
What it should mean
Uji matcha
Tea from the Uji tea region of Kyoto and its neighbours, processed there. Japanese commentary citing the agriculture ministry has flagged products made outside Japan and sold as Uji Matcha as an intellectual property problem.
Shizuoka
Grown in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan's historic home of sencha
Kagoshima
Grown in Kagoshima, now Japan's largest producer of crude tea and of tencha
Product of Japan
Grown and made in Japan, with no regional detail

A five step label check

  1. Find the country of originIt should say Japan, not just show Mount Fuji.
  2. Look for a prefectureUji, Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Nishio and so on.
  3. Check the harvestFirst flush for ceremonial.
  4. Compare the priceJapanese first flush ceremonial cannot be very cheap in 2026.
  5. AskA good seller answers where it is from, quickly and specifically.
Australian searches for Japanese matcha

Monthly Google searches in Australia.

OctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSep
japanese matcha · about 1,900 at peak

Peak month for japanese matcha: Mar. Quietest: Sep.

Google Ads Keyword Planner, Australia, all languages, Google Search. Monthly figures are Google estimates, rounded into ranges.

Questions people ask

Is Chinese matcha real matcha?
It is real powdered green tea. Whether it is matcha in the Japanese sense depends on how it was grown and made. It should be labelled with its true origin.
What is the difference between Japanese and Chinese matcha?
Japanese matcha is milled from shaded, flat dried tencha from regions like Uji, Shizuoka and Kagoshima, usually stone or bead milled. Chinese powders vary more, are often grassier, and cost less.
Is Chinese matcha safe?
Powdered tea from any country must meet Australian food standards. Ask the seller for testing results, as you would for any matcha.
How can I tell if my matcha is from Japan?
Check the country of origin on the label, look for a named prefecture and harvest, and ask the seller.
Why do cafes use Chinese matcha?
Price. One Melbourne cafe told SBS News that a similar grade of Japanese matcha cost it nearly four times as much as Chinese.
L

Lauren Pollock

Operations manager, Teafy

Lauren is the operations manager at Teafy. She writes the explainers and comparisons, the side by side pages that settle a question in a few minutes.

Sources

  1. SBS News, Australian matcha demand and cafe prices, 25 October 2025
  2. ABC News, matcha labelling in Australia, 13 December 2025
  3. The Japan Times, Green tea exports, 1 May 2026
  4. ACCC, Country of origin claims under the Australian Consumer Law
  5. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), 茶をめぐる情勢, October 2026
  6. Google Ads Keyword Planner, Australia, searches October 2025 to September 2026, checked 11 November 2026

We update this page when the numbers change, and date every change here.

Teas in this guide

Ceremonial Grade MatchaFrom our family farm in Shizuoka. Stone milled, first flush, 25 bowls a pouch.From $31.99Kyoto Uji Ceremonial Matcha, OkumidoriSingle cultivar Okumidori from Uji. Stone milled, for whisking straight.From $54.95Superior Culinary Grade MatchaFirst and second harvest, bead milled. Built for lattes and baking.From $21.99

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