Matcha has become a global phenomenon, fueled by its distinctive green color and viral popularity on social media. Rising demand has pushed the Japanese tea far beyond its traditional market, with 22% of the United Kingdom adults swapping out their morning tea or coffee for a functional alternative like matcha, herbal blends or mushroom drinks. Behind the trend are rural communities in Japan facing declining populations, aging workforces and economic pressures on agriculture.

Rural Japan Faces an Agricultural Crisis

Many of Japan’s tea-producing regions face declining populations and aging agricultural workforces, with around 43% of Japan’s local districts threatened by depopulation. Without people, rural economies cannot be sustained and farming livelihoods cannot persevere.

Japan is becoming one of the most rapidly aging and depopulating countries in the world, especially in rural areas, where outmigration has contributed to the collapse of local communities. Despite government efforts to revitalize these areas, such as Chiiki Okoshi Kyoryokutai, also known as Local Revitalisation Cooperator, a program that pays urban residents to move to rural villages for one to three years to jumpstart the local economy, farmers continue to face significant challenges, many reaching retirement age.

The number of commercial tea-farming operations has fallen sharply. According to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Agricultural and Forestry Census, there were 53,687 farming operations in 2000; in 2020, it dropped to just 12,325.

Can Matcha Revitalize Rural Communities?

With mounting economic pressure, the growing demand for matcha could offer a new source of income to help revitalize rural communities by providing farmers with opportunities to increase income, sustain farms, and support their local economy.

The matcha boom has driven up the value of the crop, creating the potential for higher farmer incomes and making tea farming more financially viable. However, whether producers benefit depends on how much of this increased value reaches them.

The Japanese government and agricultural organizations are also trying to help farmers keep up with these demands by looking for ways to expand tencha production while finding a solution to the workforce shortage.

A 2026 initiative in Shizuoka aims to increase tencha production while improving farmers’ earnings and developing the regional tea industry. The initiative provides producers with technical guidance and equipment to help them transition to tencha cultivation, creating a more stable supply of matcha’s key raw material while ensuring that more of the value generated by growing demand reaches farmers in rural Japan.

Simona Suzuki, co-founder of the Global Japanese Tea Association, whose focus is on the revitalization of Japanese tea, said the government is beginning to take steps to support farmers. “I think everyone has it in mind that we have to do something.”

Reducing Poverty in Rural Japan

Matcha’s global demand for higher-value agricultural products can create new economic opportunities in rural Japan and make a significant contribution to tackling rural poverty. However, its long-term impact will depend on whether farmers and local communities can capture a meaningful share of the industry’s growing value, while overcoming the aging workforce, labor shortages and production constraints threatening Japan’s tea industry. They are on their way to doing so.

– Clara Iglesias Romero

Clara is based in Galicia, Spain and focuses on Business and Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Unsplash