Marukyu Koyamaen

Marukyu Koyamaen is a Japanese tea company based in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. The company traces its beginnings to the Genroku period, when its founder, Kujiro Koyama, began cultivating and making tea in Ogura, Uji, an area the company describes as suitable for tea. Over generations the business developed from cultivation and production into sales as well. Its guiding motto is “quality-first tea-making.” The company identifies itself as Marukyu Koyamaen Co., Ltd.; its official company information says it was reorganized as a corporation in February 1964. The company makes and sells Japanese tea. Its site presents a product catalogue and information about matcha, tea varieties, matcha confectionery, gift products, tea for food processing, functional matcha, and products for tea-serving establishments. Its stated business covers manufacturing and sales of Japanese tea and related products. The company also provides educational material about tea and its preparation, and offers factory visits. Marukyu Koyamaen is based in Uji and lists its own stores in Kyoto, including locations in Uji and Kyoto city. Its company information describes sales and business relationships with tea retailers and tea-ceremony goods shops, gourmet supermarkets, food manufacturers, and other customers in Japan. The official site also addresses overseas customers and reports that counterfeit goods bearing its marks or product names have circulated outside Japan. The current company representative named on its official company page is President Motoya Koyama. The available evidence does not establish a parent company or a specific founding year.

Marukyu Koyamaen’s official account traces the company’s origins to the Genroku period. Its founder, Kujiro Koyama, began cultivating and manufacturing tea in the Ogura area of Uji. The account describes Uji as a place suited to tea and presents the company’s history as one of continued attention to Uji tea traditions and quality. It does not give a specific year for the founding, so the origin is best dated only to the Genroku period. The business grew over successive generations. According to the company history, by the fourth generation the family had also begun selling tea, extending its activities beyond cultivation and manufacture. In the Meiji period, the eighth-generation successor, Mot次郎 (Mot次郎; rendered as Mot次郎 in the Japanese source), further advanced the company’s commitment to quality-first tea-making. The company says this approach received support from its tea-drinking customers. The evidence does not provide exact dates for these generational transitions. The company’s history sits within the wider Uji tea tradition. Its educational material describes Uji’s reputation as a tea-growing area and discusses the development of matcha and other Japanese teas. That material places the rise of Uji tea’s reputation in a long historical context, but it is general background on tea rather than a chronology of Marukyu Koyamaen itself. A documented corporate change occurred in February 1964, when the business was reorganized as a corporation. The company is now identified on its official site as Marukyu Koyamaen Co., Ltd., with its headquarters and main factory in Uji. Its listed business is the manufacture and sale of Japanese tea and related products. It operates factories and company-run retail locations, including a matcha shop in Uji and stores in Kyoto city. The official company page names Motoya Koyama as president and representative director. The current business serves both retail and commercial customers. Company information lists tea retailers, tea-ceremony goods shops, gourmet supermarkets, and food manufacturers among its business partners, and its website separately presents food-processing matcha and related products. The company also offers factory visits and publishes guidance on tea, its storage, and preparation. It states that protecting intellectual property is important to preserving its long-established brand value and confidence in product quality. It has warned that counterfeit products using its trademarks or product names have circulated outside Japan. The available evidence does not establish a particular founding year, ownership beyond the company itself, or a parent company.

• 1964

  Reorganized as a corporation

• Origins in the Genroku period

• Tea sales added by the fourth generation

• Quality-first approach advanced in the Meiji period

A Uji tea maker whose stated motto is quality-first tea-making, with a focus on Japanese tea and products for both tea drinking and food processing.

• Japanese tea

  The company's stated business is the manufacture and sale of Japanese tea and related products.

• Matcha and food-processing tea

  The official site provides information on food-processing matcha and other tea products, including functional matcha.

• Matcha confectionery and gifts

  The official product catalogue includes matcha confectionery and gift products.

• Counterfeit products reported outside Japan

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• Intellectual-property protection and anti-counterfeit measuresOther

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