“Japanese Tea” Registered under Brand Protection System

Tokyo, July 10 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s agriculture ministry said Friday that it has registered “Japanese tea” under its system designed to protect goods with specific geographical origin as intellectual property. The move is part of the ministry’s efforts to combat intellectual property infringement by imitation products amid a global boom in matcha Japanese green tea. It is the first time that an agricultural, forestry, fishery or food item produced anywhere in Japan and under the jurisdiction of the ministry has been given protection under the geographical indication, or GI, system, which usually covers goods from particular regions of the country. Japanese tea is the second item eligible for GI protection regardless of areas of production, after Japanese sake, which falls under the jurisdiction of the National Tax Agency. Green tea exports totaled about 72.1 billion yen in 2025, helping drive the growth in exports of Japanese agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products. Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki told a press conference Friday that he hopes the registration under the GI system “will give an additional push to the strong exports” of Japanese tea. The ministry gave GI protection the same day to two other products–“Hamanako unagi” eels farmed in areas around Lake Hamana in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, and “Kaga renkon” lotus roots produced in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan. The latest registrations brought the total number of Japanese agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products covered by the GI system, excluding alcoholic beverages, to 170. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]