Maison Yame · 八女 · Fukuoka, Japan
Single origin. Shade-grown in the mist of Oku-Yame, stone-milled to a vivid, even green — a ceremonial usucha kept for the world's finest tables.
The Maison
The Garden · 奥八女
Yame reaches up the Yabe River valley in southern Fukuoka. In the steep villages of Kuroki, Jōyō, Yabe and Hoshino — Oku-Yame, "deep Yame" — rainfall and a wide day-to-night swing draw mist over the leaf, softening the sun and concentrating the theanine that becomes umami. Gyokuro and tencha are shaded some twenty days before picking.
Sources: Fukuoka Prefecture · Hoshino-mura. "Oku-Yame" is a regional name, not an administrative district.
Where · 八女
Yame sits on the island of Kyushu, in the south of Japan — up the Yabe River valley, an hour inland from Fukuoka city.
The finest leaf comes from the four mountain villages of Oku-Yame:
Yame, Fukuoka, Japan · approx. 33.2°N, 130.6°E
Heritage · 1423
Yame tea is traditionally said to date to 1423, when the Zen monk Eirin Shūzui returned from Ming China and gave tea seeds and technique to a landholder at Kasahara, in what is now Kuroki.
The temple he founded, Reiganji, is honoured as the birthplace of Yame tea; in 2023 the region marked 600 years. Every official record presents this as tradition rather than documented fact — so we keep it as a story worth telling.
Sources: Fukuoka Tea Council · City of Yame · MAFF.
The Distinction
Sources: Fukuoka Tea Council — competition record · Fukuoka Prefecture (79th, 2025) · MAFF GI Register No. 5
A bowl that tastes the same in New York as it does in Oku-Yame — that is the only luxury worth shipping.Maison Yame
The Craft
The Leaf
In Hoshino the gyokuro gardens are still shaded under wara-ōi — woven rice-straw — and picked by hand, the practices behind the GI-registered "Yame Dentō Hongyokuro."
The GI protects the gyokuro; the same shade-grown care carries into our tencha for matcha, slowly ground on granite stone mills so the powder stays fine and vivid — never dull, never bitter. Yame works across a small family of celebrated cultivars.
Sources: Hoshino-mura · Fukuoka Tea Council · MAFF GI Register.
The Cup · House Tasting Profile
Deep and brothy — the shaded leaf's theanine, unmistakable from the first sip.
Soft, marine, lingering — no sugar, only the leaf grown slowly in mist.
Near none. Stone-milled fine and whisked to a cloud — never dull, never bitter.
A Portrait · 60 Seconds
The Tea · For Service
A ceremonial-grade usucha in professional tins for hotels, lounges and fine cafés — a supply line your team can rely on, the same vivid green in every bowl.
At premium hospitality, a bowl's cost is a fraction of its menu price — so the room chooses on provenance, consistency and story, never on price.
The Cap
The Trim
The Seal
For Buyers
№1 gyokuro-producing area for 25 consecutive years (79th, 2025) — provenance you can verify.
"Yame Dentō Hongyokuro" is a Geographical Indication (2015) — a wine appellation, enforced by Japan's MAFF.
Stone-milled for an even, vivid pour and packed for service — the same taste in every tin.
Now onboarding founding North American accounts — hotels, lounges, restaurants and high-end cafés.
The House · 人
Maison Yame is founder-led and deliberately small. Every enquiry is read and answered by the founder — never a ticket queue — and every tin ships from Japan through our Saga logistics partner.
Every photograph and film on this page was taken at origin — the shaded rows, the new flush, the pick on the hillside. As we confirm each season's growers, we will introduce them here by name, with their fields.
— The Founder, Maison Yame
For Buyers · Practical
We can ship DDP — duties, customs and door-to-door delivery handled — or work with your nominated importer of record. US food imports are covered by FDA food-facility registration and prior notice, managed by us or your customs broker. Tell us your city and we'll confirm the cleanest route.
In English: residual-pesticide analysis, certificate of origin, and an allergen / specification sheet. Additional certificates (radiation, organic where applicable) on request, so the tea passes your venue's onboarding and food-safety review.
Matcha is light- and air-sensitive, so it ships sealed in commercial tins; store cool, dry and away from light. Each tin is best-before dated. We can advise par levels so your service always pours fresh, vivid green.
Small opening orders are welcome — we'd rather start you right than oversell. In-stock grades dispatch promptly; reorders ship from Japan via our Saga logistics partner. Exact case packs and timing are confirmed with your quote.
A proforma invoice on the opening order, with terms by arrangement thereafter. Incoterms typically DDP for a turnkey experience, or EXW / FOB if you prefer to run your own freight.
Allocation
The shaded gardens are small and the spring pick is finite. Founding accounts receive priority allocation, founder pricing, and first introductions to each season's growers.
Request a founding allocationCorrespondence
For hotels, lounges, restaurants and high-end cafés in North America. Tell us about your service and we'll send grade details and a sample.