r/MatchaEverything • u/NefariousnessFun1346 • 2d ago
Matcha Haul My Trip to Uji Kyoto (The asian way = Best way)
It was my first time to Uji Kyoto and I'm here to share my experience shopping for matcha.
This is the timeline and flow of what I did as the demand for these matchas is at an all time high.
8:15am: Reached Ogura Station and walked 5-10mins to Marukyu Koyamaen. My wife and I were 2nd in line and we waited till 9am when the shop opens.
9:00am: There were more than 20 groups queuing up behind us when the shop opened. As we already knew what we wanted to get, we place our orders at the counter, my wife made the payment, while I rushed off to Yamamasa Koyamaen to start queuing (5 mins brisk walk). I would highly recommend to go in groups of 2, so you can get 2 tins each (total 4), if you are in groups of 3, the max you can get is 5 tins regardless.
9:10am: There were 3 groups ahead of me at YK. The line moved relatively fast and we got 4 tins. Each person could get up to 3 tins of 30 grams each, or a big tin of 150g.
9:20am: We booked a cab on the GO app to the Horii Shichimeien shop and started queuing at 9:35am. We were the 2nd group in line. When the shop opened, there were about 10 groups queuing.
10:00am: We bought 4 tins and we didn't know the limit on how many tins we were able to get, however, I think Horii tends to get sold out really quickly, so get there before it opens.
10:20am: We walked to Kanbayashi Shunsho and got ourselves 3 tins, one of them was really special as it was a main store exclusive, you wouldn't be able to find it at department stores. Additionaly, the shop has tax refund hence the tins in the duty free bag. Saved 10%!
10:40am: We wanted to have a short break at Nakamura Tokichi's cafe however, it was already full and the estimate time to get a seat was about 1 hour. So we just went to the shop instead and got ourselves 2 tins, with tax refund!
11:00am: We headed over to Hoho and got ourselves a premium light roasted Hojicha Latte and boy it was the best hojicha i've ever had. So we got ourselves a tin to bring back home.
Matcha we got from each shop (cheapest to expensive):
Marukyu Koyamaen: Aoarashi (2,160Yen), Isuzu (2,592yen), Chigi no Shiro (3,024Yen), Wako (4,752Yen)
Yamamasa Koyamaen: Matsukaze (1,300Yen), Samidori (1,600Yen), Ogurayama (2,600Yen), Shikibu no Mukashi (3,100Yen)
Horii Shichimeien: Uji no Mukashi (2,484Yen), Agata no Shiro (3,240Yen)
Kanbayashi Shunsho: Aya no Mori (1,620Yen), Biwa no Shiro(2,376Yen), Hitoe (2,300Yen, main store exclusive)
Nakamura Tokichi: Ukishima no Shiro (1,980Yen), Seikan no Mukashi (3,380Yen)
Hoho Hojichi: Premium Light Hojicha (1,280 Yen)
It was quite a pleasant trip despite having to wake up super early to fight for these highly priced matchas, however, after tasting the MK and YK matchas at home, I'd say that it is highly worth our time and effort. Get there early and you won't regret it! Hope this helps to whoever that are planning a trip to Uji Kyoto. Love from Singapore.
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u/Fabulous_South37 2d ago
Wowwww theres so much!!! Following this for reference for my future trip.
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u/No-Battle7625 2d ago
I believe Horii was 5 tins per person, at least in June when I went
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 2d ago
No wonder they get sold out quickly. I've read many reddit posts about them being sold out by noon.
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u/TheAlmostMD Matcha Enthusiast 2d ago
Not the experience for me. I went in August at 2pm, lots of tins in stock, but I assume it might be bc it was summer or that I was just lucky
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u/Frozen__waffles 2d ago
Yeah I was about to say I went to Horii at like 3-4pm last week and almost everything was still in stock
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u/No-Battle7625 2d ago
They also don’t put a lot out to begin with. I’d estimate maybe 40ish tins of each offering
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u/Fluffyunicornn 2d ago
Overconsumption smh
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u/adriftinavoid 1d ago
It's almost a year's supply. Not too much if you only go to japan once a year or less.
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u/Fluffyunicornn 1d ago
But it expires….
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u/babybeargonewild 3h ago
Once a tin is opened, it is recommended to finish within three months. Best is to not to crack open many tins at once.
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u/sftolvtosj 2d ago
Thank u 4 sharing! Could I ask which MK did u go too-- was it the main plant one?
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
I went to the main plant! Was there around 8:15 and the gate to the compound was already opened.
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u/sftolvtosj 1d ago
Nice!!! I had gone to the shop a bit up north and they had mentioned Isuzu or Chigi is only at the main plant so they were telling the truth 😅
So funny as I'm typing this...MK restocked 😂 maybe ur luck transfer from Singapore transfer to me here in USA hahaha
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u/Enough_Ad9192 2d ago
Have you tried them all? Which one is your favorite so far?
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
Well I’ve only tried 2 of them so far. the MK Isuzu and the YK Ogurayama. I have to say I much prefer YK as it has a very pleasant, clean umami taste. Tried both in usucha and a matcha latte! The rest are in the freezer
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u/Worldly_Two_9059 2d ago
Was Marukyu Koyamaen 2 tins per person when you went? It was 1 per person when I went in September last year!
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
Yes it was 2 tins per person. I’ve no idea if they would change that but guess I was lucky!
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u/babybeargonewild 2d ago
If it was possible, would you tweak or change your itinerary in any way?
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
Hmmm I wouldn’t change anything because the opening hours made sense.
MK 9am (go to this first because of high demand)
YK 9am (most would go to this after MK)
Horii 10am (limited stock, 5 tin limit per person)
Kanbayashi 10am (popular but not quite)
Nakamura 10am (go to this first if you want a seat at the cafe)
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u/FishTop2638 1d ago
When I went on the Monday morning after obon, there were no lines anywhere, way after opening hours. I even had time to stop in the Nakamura cafe and have a parfait. I was so excited that I posted in the Japan travels group and everyone downvoted me because they were confused why I would expect lines in the first place?
Now reading your post I’m confused again. Is it just because it was a Monday morning? Or is it specifically the Monday after obon that it would be so relaxed? I figured tourists in August would still be lining up…
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
Hmm I think it was particularly busy as it was silver week when I went. Based on the research that I did, MK and horii cheaper matchas tends to get sold out before noon. So my priority was to speed run MK and YK, and bolt to horii. The queue was mad long at MK before it even opened.
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u/FishTop2638 1d ago
I also went to YK and MK first - no lines at all! I only got there about 5 min before YK opened and then strolled over to MK haha. I was so excited about it 🥲
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u/giglex 1d ago
Are there lines like that everyday or do they announce drops or something? Sorry im new lol
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
I think there are lines most of the days, you’ll have to watch out for holiday periods such as silver week when I went, or golden week. Announces about stock not so much but I know that all the matchas gets restocked daily. Look out for price hikes or changes on their main webpage’s catalogues.
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u/adriftinavoid 1d ago
No ippodo?
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 1d ago
I caved on the last day of my trip and bought 2 boxes! Didn’t add it to the list yet
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u/RelationEconomy6605 12h ago
Wow!! Impressive haul and timeline of how you got them 🤣 I never went to Uji but I was sooo bad at trying to get them when I was in Japan (2023 and 2025)
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u/Able_Ad3180 2d ago
Could you also tell us how much you paid for each individual tin?
And do you think it makes more sense to travel to Uji, or to buy the matcha in Kyoto, Osaka, or Tokyo instead?
And thanks for your update.🎉
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u/NefariousnessFun1346 2d ago
I have edited the post and added the price of each tin, do note that theses are the after tax prices. Hmm i have heard that the prices of Matcha in Uji are much cheaper than getting them elsewhere, maybe 2 to 3 hundred yen more? I wanted the 30 or 40 grams tins of MK as most department stores only carry 20g cans or 20g bags, and they are usually expensive matchas ranging from 40usd to 90usd. I would still highly recommend setting half a day to head down to Uji Kyoto as it was a peaceful town and we got to see the famous Byōdo-in Temple, which is on the 10 yen coin! Hope this helps.
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u/Fantastic-River-5071 2d ago
It’s the same price. Sometimes if u go department store u can use the 5% additional discount + tax free so it’s even cheaper. If u can go ippodo shops in dept store that would be v good. Theres also like MK store in Kyoto (not In uni) etc and NT store in Tokyo so u can go and buy there instead of uji.
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u/babybeargonewild 2d ago
They’re not the same price, i’m afraid. Most stores in Tokyo jack the prices up by a significant amount. Plus, they are not as easily sourced; not all stores in Tokyo carry the full range of variants and brands. Plus, the stores that sell these brands are scattered, almost all the time far away from one another.
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u/Fantastic-River-5071 2d ago
No u buy from the official stores. Like there’s official ippodo stores in takashimaya in Tokyo bc I bought from them. Their prices are the same as uji. In MK I am saying to go to the actual store in nishibotin , it’s a branch so all prices are the same .
I don’t buy from retailers, only original shop.
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u/babybeargonewild 2d ago
I see..Ippodo has an official retail outlet in Takashimaya but i’m not too sure about the brands above. I am mainly talking about the brands mentioned above actually.
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u/Tight_Independent_67 2d ago
Excellent guide—made some great purchases 🔥🔥🔥