Founded in 1632, by tea master Hiroshi Yamamori, the Yamamori Estate established a lasting reputation when his tencha drew the admiration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Over the centuries, the Yamamori family became the sole supplier to the Imperial Household Agency—a distinction earned through consistent excellence, and carried forward with ceremony and integrity through the eras of Emperors Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa.
The Yamamori Estate occupies a half-acre plot in central Uji, where the confluence of the Uji and Kizu Rivers creates a microclimate of perpetual humidity and dappled sunlight.
The soil, a dense amalgam of humus-rich organic matter and red clay sediments from Lake Biwa, boasts a pH of 5.2–5.6—ideal for nurturing the Yabukita and Samidori tea cultivars prized for matcha.
Winter frosts stress the plants, concentrating amino acids like L-theanine, while summer fog diffuses sunlight, slowing photosynthesis and amplifying chlorophyll production.
In 1947, led by tea master Masao Yamamori-san, the Yamamori family won Japan's first National Best Tea Award. This landmark event cemented the Yamamori family's legacy among Japan’s elite growers and turned a small production matcha into a national benchmark of quality.
