Horii Shichimeien Matcha

Horii Shichimeien has been engaged, from generation to generation, in the production and sales of Uji Tea in the area in front of Agata-jinja Shrine of Uji, which is famous for its “strange festival in the dark.” The year 1879 (Meiji 12) marked the starting point of the company’s business, as the name of the second-generation owner appeared publicly in a recognized report on tea production (“Kyoshinkai Tea Production Report”).

Horii Chōjirō, the third-generation owner, who wished to further promote Uji Tea, undertook the task of the mechanization of the production of “tencha” (tea leaves used for matcha, before the leaves are ground into fine powder). The production of tea in general was undergoing a transition to mechanization at that time. In 1924 (Taisho 13), he finally worked out a method and called it “Horii’s Tencha Production Machine”. This invention made the production of even and high-quality teas possible and contributed to the quality increase of Uji Tea, thus providing the foundation for the prosperity of Uji Tea as the regional specialty. And because Chōjirō did not hold this method to himself but instead shared and spread it in the local area, all of the tencha production machines used in Japan today are nothing but improved versions of his machine.

Horii Shichimeien is an old-established Uji Tea company and is among the few stores that own their own tea gardens. Its tea garden is one of the seven famous gardens called Uji Shichimeien designated by Ashikaga Shogunate in the Muromachi Period. Today, the store’s garden named “Okunoyama” is located on a small hill near Uji Byōdōin Temple as the only existing garden of the seven. Over the last 600 years, the store has continued to grow and process teas (such as the well-known high quality tencha “Narino”), engaging in the whole process of tea manufacturing from picking and selecting to drying and grinding of tealeaves using grinding stones. Now the company also sells at retail and provides genuine Uji Tea directly to their customers.