Tea, Terroir, and a Little Bit of Magic: An Afternoon with Yunomi Matcha Tokyo

There's knowing about matcha, and then there's what Ian Chun knows about matcha.

On August 1st, a small group of JETAA Tokyo members braved the summer heat to make their way to Togoshi Ginza to visit Ian at his matcha tasting space, Yunomi Matcha Tokyo — and walked away with a quietly expanded sense of what a cup of tea can be.

Ian is a JET alum (Okinawa) whose path to becoming one of Tokyo's most thoughtful matcha specialists has been years in the making — part passion project, part entrepreneurial leap, entirely his own. What started as something experimental has grown into a genuine destination for anyone serious about the craft.

The afternoon was intimate and unhurried. Ian guided us through several grades of matcha, drawing on his direct relationships with tea farmers to explain what separates the good from the extraordinary.

We learned to look at color — that deep, almost bluish green that signals real quality — and to pay attention to the kind of rich, layered umami that's nearly impossible to find unless you know what you're looking for and where to source it. Ian knows both.

He also walked us through the geography of matcha — what makes an Uji matcha distinct from a Kyoto matcha (the answer might surprise you), how terroir shapes flavor — and touched on the history and spiritual dimensions of tea ceremony in a way that felt less like a lecture and more like being let in on something. The kind of knowledge that takes decades to accumulate, shared generously over small ceramic cups.

We also got to taste some of his more creative offerings: a smooth hojicha cocktail and a sweet potato matcha latte that were both genuinely delightful.

Honestly? We can't do justice to what Ian shared that afternoon. You really have to go yourself.

Take an afternoon to visit his shop in the heart of Tokyo!

👉 Yunomi Matcha Tokyo | @yunomi.matcha.tokyo | Togoshi Ginza, Tokyo