It’s Tea Time in Japan

Posted on 05/02/2023 Last updated on 01/11/2024

Before coming to Japan, I wasn’t the biggest fan of caffeinated drinks. I know, a rarity in this fast paced world that requires more amounts of instant energy than ever before. The taste, the inevitable crash afterwards, and certain products triggering my unfortunate lactose intolerance symptoms made it so for the longest time, caffeine stayed far away from my system. Even when it came to soda, I often preferred the caffeine free options.

That all changed however, when I arrived to work as an ALT teacher in Japan. ALT, or assistant language teacher, are teachers who assist students at junior high and elementary schools with their English often helping their home room teachers or school English teachers. And believe me; I have met many teachers even in just my one year here so far. There was one thing I found particularly interesting when I drank my usual water bottles or juices depending on the day in our school cafeterias. And that was that the majority of teachers only had one drink of choice with them; Tea.

Now I have tried green tea and other teas before but to be honest, I didn’t really think much of the drinks other then being fancy gifts my parents received from relatives. I just didn’t get the craze, it just tasted as some would say, like leaf juice. And in America where I am from, coffee was by far a much more popular drink of choice. However, it was not only the fact that all the other facility members were drinking it, but also the fact that tea seemed to be on sale everywhere from convenient stores, to supermarkets, to vending machines.

Photo by 花藤館 photo&園芸

Fascinated by the phenomenon, I decided to do some research online on why tea was by far the most popular drink of choice amongst citizens in Japan. Well as you’d imagine, it was quite the rabbit hole with tea’s extensive history. One particular kind I found interesting was tea that contained a substance known as “Matcha”.

According to this webmd page, Matcha contains more caffeine as well as theanine, an amino acid that enhances cognitive performance. Also inside are catechins which assist with heart and liver health. You can even if you drink too much tea experience something known as a “tea” buzz or tea drunk as there is a bit of psychoactive effects within catechins.

All the research in the world however, cannot make up for the actual experiencing of something. Still very curious, I decided to take 150 yen to my local vending machine and purchase a bottle of green matcha tea to try myself. I won’t lie, the taste was the same as I remember when I first tried tea; bitter, not really flavorful, and grassy.

But still, I drank the bottle within half an hour. It wasn’t that drastic of an effect, but even the first time trying I felt like I sort of understood why it was so popular. The caffeine buzz was lighter and smoother than that of coffee, and I did feel a bit clearer in the head. So of course, the next day I decided to buy another bottle.

And another and another. Turns out the beauty of tea like many things comes with time. The bitter taste eventually became something my tongue welcomed. The light burst of energy, I appreciated when I had to dredge through slow hours at work. Since that day in fact, I feel I’ve tried at least 20 different types of tea just to see the effects each had. I have to say, as convenient as vending machine tea is, nothing beats a nice warm cup served in a proper café.

Photo by すんだらみやこ

So the next time you’re deciding what to drink and about to choose something filled with sugar or too much caffeine, perhaps consider tea as an alternative. There’s a reason the drink is not only popular today, but throughout every age in the passage of time since the first monks who discovered it. It’s refreshing, it’s light, and it gives you just the right amount of energy without the crash after. It’s no wonder that on every desk at my school’s teacher’s office, there stand the same green bottes.

Photo Credits:

Top photo: happyfoot on PhotoAC

All additional images: 花藤館 photo&園芸 and すんだらみやこ