matcha naming and process standard (Japan)
concept / concept-matcha-name-standard
緑茶の表示基準
Matcha naming and process standard (Japan) is a Japanese framework governing use of the name "matcha". It includes the Japan Tea Central Association’s "Green Tea Labeling Standards", a voluntary industry standard, and ISO/TR 21380:2022, prepared under the leadership of NARO with reference to that standard. Both define matcha through production requirements such as shade cultivation, drying in a tencha furnace, and stone-mill grinding; neither includes a criterion numerically classifying concentration or content.
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Reading the bitterness
The voluntary industry standard for matcha defines matcha as tencha ground into a fine powder with a tea mill or similar device. For tencha, it sets out production requirements: covering the tea garden before picking, steaming the leaves, and drying them without rolling. The core of the definition is this combination of raw material and production method.
NARO (National Agriculture and Food Research Organization) explains that ISO/TR 21380:2022 "Matcha tea – Definition and characteristics" is a technical report dealing with the definition and characteristics of matcha, not a legally binding document. Japan's industry standard likewise defines matcha by production requirements rather than by numerical values for concentration or grade.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Matched the definitions of matcha and tencha, and the production requirements of shading, steaming, no rolling, and drying. / Matched the point that Japan's industry standard defines matcha by production requirements alone, and the limitation of the comparison source.
Checked for this overview: Matched the content of ISO/TR 21380:2022 and its legal character as a nonbinding technical report.
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Matcha →differs from→ matcha naming and process standard (Japan)
Hypotheses and recipe candidates for this entry are on the Japanese page.
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Safety and regulation (3)
Scope: The Japan Tea Central Association’s 「緑茶の表示基準」 (in translation: "Green Tea Labeling Standards"), implementation rules (Table 1, names and definitions, and the notes to that table).
Note: The full document, including its implementation rules, was checked, but no standard classifying matcha 『濃さ』 (in translation: "strength") or 『等級』 (in translation: "grade") by percentages or numerical levels was found. Other tea categories, such as gyokuro and kabusecha, are also defined only by production conditions such as days under shade, without numerical content-percentage notation. Last revised July 10, Reiwa 8 (established April 1, Heisei 3).
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concept-matcha-name-standard —records→ "Definition of matcha (tencha): 「碾茶を茶臼等で微粉末状に製造したもの」 (in translation: "tencha ground into a fine powder with a tea mill or similar device"). Tencha is 「摘採期前に棚施設等を利用して茶園をよしず、コモ、寒冷紗などの被覆資材で2〜3週間程度覆った『覆下茶園』から摘採した茶葉を蒸熱し、揉まないで碾茶炉等で乾燥させて製造したもの」 (in translation: "made by steaming leaves picked from a shaded garden covered for about 2–3 weeks before harvest with materials such as reed screens, straw mats, or shade cloth using shelf structures or similar supports, then drying them without rolling in a tencha furnace or similar equipment")."Scope: The history and contents of the technical report’s publication as conveyed by a NARO press release.
Note: An ISO technical report (TR) is an informational document; its publisher explicitly states 『記載されている内容はルールとして何かを規定するものではない』 (in translation: "the contents do not establish rules governing anything"). Its account of cultivation and production is based on 『緑茶の表示基準』 (in translation: "Green Tea Labeling Standards") and describes shade cultivation, drying in a tencha furnace, and fine grinding in a stone mill as requirements. Numerical specifications for chemical-component content related to quality lie outside the scope of this technical report. NARO planned to include them in a subsequent international standard (IS), but at the time of this source (2022) that standard had not been developed; domestic and foreign matcha samples were still being collected and analyzed chemically. The report’s preparation was motivated in part by products made of powdered rooibos or black tea being marketed internationally under the name 『Matcha』.
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concept-matcha-name-standard —is_documented_in→ "ISO/TR 21380:2022, 『Matcha tea – Definition and characteristics』 (a technical report published by the International Organization for Standardization on April 11, 2022, prepared primarily by NARO and adopted by ISO TC34/SC8)."Scope: A comparison of ways to define matcha (Chinese national standard versus Japanese industry standard plus ISO technical report).
Note: The Japanese sources (the Green Tea Labeling Standards and ISO/TR 21380) define 『抹茶』 (in translation: "matcha") only by production requirements such as the duration of shade cultivation of tencha and the grinding method, without numerical standards for concentration or content percentage. A secondary source reproduces the Chinese standard (GB/T 34778-2017) as including grades based on numerical physicochemical criteria such as particle size, moisture, total ash, and theanine content. The institutional designs differ in 『抹茶をどう定義するか』 (in translation: "how to define matcha"). The Chinese numerical values have not been independently checked against the primary standard.
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concept-china-matcha-standard-gbt34778 —differs_from→ concept-matcha-name-standard