Terraced tea fields above the Fuji River in Nanbu, Yamanashi

Nanbu, Yamanashi · Japan

Matcha from a valley where the mist never quite lifts.

Maruwa Chaen has worked the terraces above the Fuji River for four generations. PuaMelia brings that harvest to the world.

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01 — The place

Nanbu-cha: small in scale, long in memory

Tea has grown in Nanbu since the thirteenth century, when a travelling monk is said to have carried seed up the Fuji River valley. It remains one of Japan's smallest and most northerly tea districts — and that is exactly the point.

Cold nights, river mist and a short season slow the leaf down. Slower growth means more amino acids and less astringency: a cup that is thick, sweet and quiet rather than sharp.

Fuji River valley · Nanbu, Yamanashi Prefecture

Fuji River valley · Nanbu, Yamanashi Prefecture

The terroir

Three things the valley does to the leaf

Mist off the river

Morning fog acts as a second shade cloth, softening the light that reaches the leaf and protecting the theanine that makes it sweet.

Terraces between forest and sky

The fields sit on mountain terraces ringed by cedar. Cool nights hold the plant back, and everything it makes stays in the bud.

One valley, start to finish

Nothing is blended in from elsewhere. The leaf is picked, steamed, rolled and finished within sight of the field it came from.

Tea bushes growing under shade cloth A single new bud, one bud and two leaves Freshly picked leaf in a bamboo basket Finished sencha leaf held in a hand

02 — The teas

Six teas from one leaf

Everything below is Camellia sinensis from the same fields. What changes is when we pick, how long we shade, and how we apply heat.

01

Matcha

抹茶

Stone-milled

Shade-grown tencha, milled on granite to five to ten microns. Deep green, thick-bodied and low in bitterness — for usucha, koicha or milk.

02

Nagomi Sencha

なごみ

First flush

Our flagship steamed green tea. Sweet, full and rounded, with the melon-and-sea character of a cold-climate first flush.

03

Wagokoro Sencha

わごころ

Deep steamed

Longer steaming opens the leaf further: a darker, cloudier cup with a soft, almost creamy finish.

04

Hikicha

挽き煎茶

Ground sencha

Sencha milled to powder. Brighter and more astringent than matcha, and a natural fit for baking, ice cream and bottled drinks.

05

Bo-hojicha

棒ほうじ茶

Roasted stem

Stems roasted over high heat until amber. Low in caffeine, toasty and sweet — the tea people here drink at night.

06

Wakocha

和紅茶

Japanese black

Fully oxidised Japanese black tea. Gentle tannins, stone fruit and honey, and no need for milk.

Illustrated line-up of Maruwa Chaen teas

Available as retail tins, foodservice packs, or unbranded bulk for your own line.

03 — The craft

From covered field to finished leaf

  1. 01

    Cover

    Three weeks before picking, the rows go under shade cloth. The plant answers with more theanine and chlorophyll — the source of matcha's colour and its sweetness.

  2. 02

    Pick

    The first flush comes around the eighty-eighth night — late April into May. The old hands of the neighbourhood gather: naturally shaped fields by hand, the terraces by machine. One bud, two leaves.

  3. 03

    Steam

    Within hours the leaf is steamed to stop oxidation. Thirty seconds or one hundred and twenty — that alone separates Nagomi from Wagokoro.

  4. 04

    Dry & sort

    The leaf is rolled, dried and graded at our own finishing plant — growing, processing and shipping all stay in our hands. Stems are set aside for hojicha; the finest leaf becomes tencha.

  5. 05

    Mill

    Tencha is milled on granite. One stone yields about forty grams an hour, which is the whole reason real matcha cannot be hurried.

Villagers hand-picking the first flush Machine harvesting across a hillside field The local finishing plant where leaf is graded

In the farm's own words

From the Maruwa Chaen leaflet

Three passages from the leaflet the family hands out in Nanbu, translated as they are written.

Hands picking one bud and two leaves

Picking begins on the eighty-eighth night. From one pair of hands to the next.

Hachijūhachiya — the eighty-eighth night counted from the first day of spring. As the season turns from spring to summer, picking begins at Maruwa Chaen, as it does every year. What picking cannot do without is human hands.

Every year when the season comes, the old hands of the neighbourhood gather. Watching them pick, you feel that the field has become a place that joins one person to another. A field picked by hand is grown shizen-jitate, left to its natural shape, and it turns into the most extravagant leaf of all.

Picking above the valley, mountains behind

Carried from the field to the factory, and turned into tea. One leaf, many flavours.

When picking is done, the leaf goes straight to the factory and processing begins. Maruwa Chaen has its own processing plant, so growing, processing and selling are all carried out in the same hands.

Across the seven fields we keep in Nanbu, picking starts early in the morning, and once the harvest is in, the processing follows. This is the season of racing the clock — the work goes on with hours stolen from sleep.

The field in autumn, storing up sweetness for the first flush

We send out our first flush with confidence.

What Maruwa Chaen insists on is this: the tea we sell ourselves is first-flush tea. Through autumn and into winter the leaf drinks in the sun and stores up its nourishment little by little, and it comes out full of umami.

Once a day, we would like you to pour tea from a pot and taste an unhurried hour.

What Maruwa Chaen sells is not tea leaf. It is time over tea, shared with everyone.
Maruwa Chaen
New-flush buds in bright sunlight

04 — Matcha

Three grades, one origin

All three are milled from our own tencha. They differ by picking and by the position of the leaf on the plant — never by farm.

CeremonialFirst flush · youngest leaf
Vivid jade, no bitterness, a lasting sweetness. For usucha and koicha. 20 g and 30 g tins, or 1 kg bulk.
Café / latteFirst flush · broader leaf
Holds its colour and body against dairy and oat. Built for volume bar work without tasting thin.
CulinarySecond flush
Stronger and more astringent, priced for volume. Ice cream, baking, confectionery and ready-to-drink.

05 — For buyers

Wholesale, private label and export

PuaMelia is Maruwa Chaen's export partner. We hold the contract, the paperwork and the freight, so you deal with one counterparty — in your language.

Minimum order
5 kg per SKU for bulk; 100 units for retail tins
Packaging
1 kg and 500 g aluminium bulk bags, 20–100 g tins, or your own
Private label
OEM from 50 kg, including artwork, tin sourcing and label compliance
Lead time
3–5 weeks ex-works. New-crop matcha ships from June
Terms
EXW, FOB Tokyo / Yokohama, or CIF to your port. Air and sea
Documents
Certificate of analysis, residual pesticide and radioactivity testing, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate on request

Samples before anything else

A paid sample set — matcha, sencha, hojicha, wakocha — reaches you before any commitment is discussed.

Spec sheets and photography

Product data, brewing guides and an image library you can use in your own market, free of charge.

One point of contact

Quotes, purchase orders, shipping and after-sales handled by the same person, in English, Japanese, Thai or Spanish.

Request a quote

Where we ship

We quote and ship to Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Oceania. This site is published in twelve languages because good tea should not need a translator.

  • Thailand
  • Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Indonesia
  • Vietnam
  • Taiwan
  • Korea
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Mexico
  • UAE
  • Australia

06 — Who we are

A grower and an exporter

Maruwa Chaen

Maruwa Chaen

Grower & processor · Nanbu, Yamanashi

A family tea garden on the terraces above the Fuji River. Their mark is 和 — wa, harmony — drawn inside a single brush circle, beside the line they have used for years: Nanbu tea quiets the thirst of the heart.

PuaMelia

PuaMelia Co., Ltd.

Export & distribution partner · Japan

PuaMelia sources directly from Japanese producers and carries the export side: documentation, testing, freight and overseas distribution. Maruwa Chaen's teas reach markets outside Japan through us.

  1. 1Maruwa Chaen grows and processes
  2. 2PuaMelia exports and distributes
  3. 3You import, brew, bake or retail

Before you write

Is this true matcha, or ground sencha?

Both, and we label them apart. Matcha is stone-milled from shade-grown tencha. Hikicha is milled sencha — cheaper, brighter, and described honestly as what it is.

Can you supply certified organic tea?

Certified lots are limited and allocated early in the season. Tell us your volume and target month and we will confirm what is actually available.

What testing comes with a shipment?

Every export lot ships with a certificate of analysis. Residual pesticide panels matched to EU, US or your national standard, and radioactivity testing, are available on request.

Do you do private label?

Yes, from 50 kg. We support artwork, tin sourcing and label compliance for your market.

How small can a first order be?

A paid sample set, then 5 kg per SKU. We would rather start small and get it right.

07 — Get in touch

Tell us what you need

Volume, market, timeline. We reply within two business days, in your language.

Or write to us directly
info@puamelia.co.jp

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