Hoshino Seichaen Matcha

Family-run tea producer founded in 1946 in Hoshino Village, Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture (株式会社星野製茶園). The house built its reputation on Yame Traditional Hon Gyokuro using handwoven rice-straw shading and hand-picking, then in 1989 became the first in Kyushu to operate a full-scale tencha facility — applying that gyokuro craft to matcha. Two members hold the rare Chashi Jūdan (10-dan tea master) certification, and their gyokuro "Mare" won the 2016 Japan Tea Award. Their matcha is the house tea at Edosenke and is poured in some of Tokyo's most respected tea houses.