ATOP A HILL in Kagoshima, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, neat rows of green tea bushes stretch across a vast field. When Nishi Toshimi inherit(继承)ed his family farm two decades ago, the industry was heading downhill; prices were falling and sales shrinking. Then the world went crazy for matcha. The boom of the past few years has felt “like a miracle,” he says.
在日本南部九州岛的鹿儿岛，一座山丘顶上，一排排整齐的茶树铺展在广阔的田野上。二十年前西俊美（Nishi Toshimi）继承家族农场时，整个行业正走下坡路：价格下跌，销量萎缩。后来，全世界都为抹茶疯狂。他说，过去几年的这股热潮感觉“像奇迹一样”。
Japan’s green-tea exports reached 12,600 tonnes last year, three times as much as a decade earlier; prices have also surge(激增)d. Unlike Kyoto, famed for its coveted(令人垂涎的) Uji matcha, or Shizuoka, a traditional producer of brewed green tea, Kagoshima is barely a household name(家喻户晓的名字). Yet the matcha boom has transformed its fortunes. In 2024 it became Japan’s top tea producer for the first time and now grows around 40% of its tencha(碾茶), the leaf that is ground to make matcha powder. Even so, Japan is struggling to keep up with(跟上) global demand. Its tea industry is in surprisingly poor shape, beset(困扰) by ageing farmers, labour shortages and competition from China.
日本绿茶出口量去年达到1.26万吨，是十年前的三倍；价格也大幅上涨。京都以备受追捧的宇治抹茶闻名，静冈则是传统的煎茶产地，相比之下，鹿儿岛几乎算不上家喻户晓。然而抹茶热潮改变了它的命运。2024年，它首次成为日本最大产茶地，如今种植了全国约40%的碾茶——即磨成抹茶粉的茶叶。即便如此，日本仍难以跟上全球需求。其茶产业状况出人意料地糟糕，饱受茶农老龄化、劳动力短缺以及来自中国的竞争困扰。
While the world craves matcha, most Japanese drink sencha, made by brewing tea leaves in the normal way, rather than dissolving matcha powder.(当全世界渴望抹茶时，大多数日本人喝的却是煎茶——用常规方式冲泡茶叶，而非溶解抹茶粉。) Yet demand at home has long been falling as habits have changed. Consumption of tea leaves fell from 527 grams per person in 1970 to 233 in 2024. Farmers have left the business or retired without successor(接班人)s; between 2005 and 2025 the area devoted to tea cultivation(种植) shrank by 31%.
当全世界渴望抹茶时，大多数日本人喝的却是煎茶——用常规方式冲泡茶叶，而非溶解抹茶粉。然而随着习惯改变，国内需求早已持续下滑。人均茶叶消费量从1970年的527克降至2024年的233克。茶农纷纷退出行业，或退休后无人接班；2005年至2025年间，茶树种植面积缩减了31%。