Nakamura Tokichi Honten (中村藤吉本店)

Nakamura Tokichi Honten was founded in Uji in 1854, the first year of the Ansei era, by the first Nakamura Tokichi, and the Kyoto tea town is still where the house belongs. In Tokyo it has two shops. The Ginza one is on the fourth floor of GINZA SIX at 6-10-1 Ginza: a tea counter and a full café, both open 10:30 to 20:30, with last orders at 19:30. The café does not take reservations, and its closing days follow the building's.

The second shop is in Azabudai Hills, in the basement of Garden Plaza B at 5-9-1 Toranomon, one minute from Kamiyacho station. It is a shop with to-go drinks rather than a café, open 10:00 to 20:00. Both sell the Uji range: the sencha Tokichi that carries the founder's name, the larger-bag Seifu, gyokuro Kagyoku and the shaded kabusecha Shoun. Then matcha Yukawa no Shiro in a 30 g tin, a jo hojicha and an everyday genmaicha in 100 g bags.

The house is known in Uji for matchas named Hatsumukashi, Atomukashi and Sho no Mukashi, and for the gyokuros Kagyoku, Kosetsu and Senjo. In Tokyo the famous item is the nama-cha jelly, a matcha dessert that fills the Ginza café. The menu also lists workshops. For a first bag, the plainest route is the sencha with the founder's name on it, and the genmaicha is the one to drink while you decide.