Our Story

Founder

Takahiro Yamamoto

Managing Director, Crafted in Japan Co., Ltd.

A deep sadness. That was what I quietly felt when I first tasted what was served as “matcha” overseas. That cup bore no resemblance to the matcha I knew. Afterward, I visited countless cafés and restaurants, tasting their matcha. But every time, the flavor was far removed from the matcha nurtured in Japan. As someone who knows the real thing, it was heartbreaking.

The Growing Gap Between
Real and Imitation

While demand for matcha surges worldwide, so does the spread of “matcha-like” products. Producers without the history or expertise are mass-producing matcha at scale. In some cases, cultivars painstakingly developed by Japanese farmers over generations have been taken abroad and used to create imitations.

The result: people around the world are drinking something they believe is matcha — but they have never experienced the real thing. For those of us dedicated to preserving Japan’s tea culture, this is a quiet but deeply painful reality.

800 Years of Mastery

What Goes Into
a Single Sip

Japanese matcha is the product of approximately 800 years of history and an extraordinary accumulation of trial and error. The flavor you experience in a single sip is the crystallization of 800 years of effort.

Growing matcha across Japan to find the optimal climate — temperature, rainfall, and sunlight
Enriching the soil once a year, carefully preparing the ground for the next harvest
Adjusting shading timing down to the minute to maximize umami
Varying roasting temperatures by single degrees to find the peak of aroma
Refining particle size to the micron level for the smoothest possible texture
Testing water temperatures degree by degree to find the optimal balance of umami and fragrance
Designing the entire drinking experience — down to the moment of that perfect sip

This relentless pursuit of perfection is what creates the flavor you taste in a single moment of real matcha. That is why, even if someone copies the cultivar, they cannot replicate 800 years of technique. The gap between the real and the imitation is immeasurable.

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