Yamamotoyama

What Yamamotoyama does

Yamamotoyama is a Japanese specialty tea and nori (seaweed) merchant founded in 1690 (Genroku 3) by first-generation Kahei Yamamoto in Nihonbashi, Edo (present-day Tokyo), and has remained family-owned for nine generations spanning more than 330 years. The company originated as a tea and paper merchant and is credited with two foundational innovations in Japanese tea history: the first commercial sale of aosei-processed sencha in Edo in 1738 by the second-generation head, and the invention of gyokuro — a shade-grown premium green tea — in 1835 by the sixth-generation Kahei Yamamoto at age 18, a category whose national annual production remains only ~500 metric tons. In 1947 the ninth-generation head expanded into nori seaweed from Kyushu's Ariake Sea, and in 1963 Yamamotoyama became the first in Japan to sell Japanese tea in tea bag format.

The company's core product portfolio spans premium green teas (gyokuro, sencha, hojicha, genmaicha, blended gogumi, and regional single-origin teas from Sayama, Kakegawa, Uji, Yame, and Chiran) and a nori line including roasted nori, flavored nori (plum, wasabi, green shiso), and nori rice crackers. Underlying production capabilities include domain-specific techniques: gyokuro shade cultivation (~20 days of light blocking to concentrate theanine), aosei sencha steaming/rolling, and a five-stage nori aquaculture process with stake-based and floating systems culminating in far-infrared roasting. The company also operates an experiential retail layer with distinct concepts — Fujie Sabo tearoom, Ochazuke Cha Kanmi café, Ochazuke Onigiri specialty shop, PEAK S PEAK CAFE, Yamamotoyama Kahei (an upscale kappo kaiseki restaurant), and the newer YMY Gyokuro Tearoom under the YMY sub-brand.

Yamamotoyama's revenue model is direct-to-consumer across multiple channels: company-operated retail locations (tearooms, cafés, restaurants), staffed counters inside major Japanese department stores including Takashimaya and Hankyu branches, a nationwide network of authorized retailers, and an e-commerce storefront (ec.yamamotoyama.co.jp). The customer base is overwhelmingly Japanese individual consumers purchasing for daily consumption, gifting, and traditional tea ceremony use, with a limited US presence. The company employs 251-500 people and is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or external investors; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is set through its retail and online channels.

Name

Yamamotoyama

Legal name

Yamamotoyama

Website

https://yamamotoyama.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Yamamotoyama is a 330-year-old, family-owned Japanese tea and nori merchant based in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, selling premium gyokuro, sencha, hojicha, and Ariake Sea nori through tearooms, department store counters, and e-commerce to Japanese consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Tea & Nori

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

SIC

Beverages (2080), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Tea Shops (Loose-Leaf, Tea Bars) (THAFAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Seaweed & Dried Vegetable Snacks Manufacturing (AFAKAIAI)

Keywords

• Japanese green tea
• Nori seaweed products
• Specialty tea retail
• Shade-grown gyokuro
• Traditional tea merchant

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tea Products: Premium Japanese green tea products including gyokuro, sencha, genmaicha, hojicha, and regional teas from sources across Japan. Sold through retail stores, department store counters, and e-commerce.
2. Nori (Seaweed) Products: Nori seaweed products including roasted nori, flavored nori with various seasonings, nori snacks, and nori rice crackers. Products sourced from Ariake Sea region.
3. Food Service / Restaurant Operations: Revenue from company-operated restaurants and cafes including Fujie Sabo tearoom, Ochazuke Cha Kanmi café, Ochazuke Onigiri specialty stores, PEAK S PEAK CAFE, and the upscale Yamamotoyama Kahei kappo kaiseki restaurant.
4. E-commerce / Online Sales: Direct-to-consumer online store (ec.yamamotoyama.co.jp) selling tea, nori, and gift products for home delivery.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Yamamotoyama is a heritage Japanese tea and nori (seaweed) merchant that curates, processes, and sells premium Japanese green teas—including gyokuro (which it invented in 1835), sencha, hojicha, genmaicha, and regional single-origin teas from Sayama, Kakegawa, Uji, Yame, and Chiran—alongside nori products (roasted, flavored, and rice crackers) sourced from the Ariake Sea. Products are sold through company-owned tearooms, cafes, and restaurants, department store counters, authorized retailers across Japan, and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce store.

Product overview

Yamamotoyama is a traditional Japanese tea and nori (seaweed) merchant established in 1690, operating as a multi-channel retailer with physical store concepts and e-commerce. The core product portfolio includes premium teas such as gyokuro (invented by the company in 1835), sencha, hojicha, genmaicha, and regional single-origin teas from five major Japanese growing regions. The nori line features roasted, flavored, and specialty rice cracker products. Physical retail includes tea rooms (Fujie Sabo), kaiseki restaurants (Kahei), specialty ochazuke and onigiri shops, Japanese cafes, and a gyokuro tearoom (YMY). Products are sold through owned retail locations, department store counters, and an e-commerce platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• YMY: New brand by Yamamotoyama offering gyokuro and tea products. YMY GYOKURO TEAROOM is one of their store concepts.

Products and services

• Gyokuro (玉露) Premium shade-grown Japanese green tea with rich umami flavor, invented by Yamamotoyama's sixth-generation founder in 1835. Characterized by mellow, velvety flavor with concentrated theanine content and a distinctive 'shaded aroma'. National production totals only about 500 metric tons annually.
• Sencha (煎茶) Standard Japanese green tea accounting for 70% of Japan's green tea production, processed by steaming fresh leaves, rolling, drying, and shaping into needle-like forms. Features well-balanced umami, bitterness, and astringency.
• Hojicha (ほうじ茶) Roasted green tea produced by heating sencha, bancha, or kukicha leaves at high temperature. Features clear roasted aroma, refreshing taste, and mellow, velvety flavor with low caffeine.
• Genmaicha (玄米茶) Green tea blended with roasted brown rice, featuring the aromatic fragrance of roasted rice combined with the savory umami of sencha.
• Gogumi (合組) Blended Tea Blended tea combining leaves from different regional sources to achieve uniform flavor, colors, and aromas. Embodies Yamamotoyama tea masters' experience in balancing umami, astringency, and bitterness.
• Regional Single-Origin Teas (産地別) Single-origin teas from five major Japanese tea regions: Sayama (Saitama), Kakegawa (Shizuoka), Uji (Kyoto), Yame (Fukuoka), and Chiran (Kagoshima). Each reflects the distinct terroir and processing traditions of its source region.
• Roasted Nori (焼海苔) Roasted seaweed with savory aroma and rich flavor, carefully selected for color, luster, aroma, and texture. Sourced exclusively from the Ariake Sea and processed using far-infrared roasting for soft melt-in-mouth texture and crisp bite.
• Flavored Nori (味海苔) Seasoned nori seaweed available in various flavors including sweet-savory sauce (tsukudani), plum (umeboshi), wasabi, and green shiso. Made from Ariake Sea nori with signature far-infrared roasting.
• Nori Rice Crackers (のりせんべい) Snack rice crackers featuring nori seaweed as the main ingredient, created to offer new ways to enjoy tea and nori as a paired snack.
• Japanese Tea Bags Convenient single-serve tea bag format offering Yamamotoyama's premium Japanese green tea, pioneering the category in Japan in 1963.
• Fujie Sabo (ふじゑ茶房) Tearoom Traditional tea room in Nihonbashi where staff brew tea individually for each customer at counter seating, offering gyokuro, sencha, and seasonal wagashi confections.
• Yamamotoyama Kahei (山本山 嘉兵衛) Restaurant Evening-exclusive kappo kaiseki restaurant using Fujie Sabo's counter seats, offering seasonal kaiseki cuisine paired with premium tea and nori.
• Ochazuke Onigiri Yamamotoyama Specialty store for tea-steeped rice (ochazuke) and rice balls (onigiri), featuring carefully crafted hojicha broth and premium nori-infused onigiri.
• Ochazuke Cha Kanmi Yamamotoyama Japanese cafe offering casual enjoyment of traditional Japanese flavors like tea and nori, located inside JR Tachikawa Station.
• PEAK S PEAK CAFE Cafe located in Nihonbashi Takashimaya Mitsui Building, offering tea-based beverages and light fare in a contemporary setting.

Quantifiable outcome

• National gyokuro production is approximately 500 metric tons annually, making it a rare tea
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Marukyu Koyamaen: Uji-based premium Japanese tea (matcha, gyokuro, sencha) manufacturer founded in 1688, with comparable heritage to Yamamotoyama. Direct peer in product category, premium positioning, and wholesale-to-retail distribution model, though heavier in matcha.
• T2 Tea: Australian specialty tea retailer founded in 1996 with a strong retail footprint of branded tea stores, loose-leaf assortment, and D2C e-commerce. Comparable to Yamamotoyama in multi-channel experiential retail and gift-oriented assortment, though in Western tea rather than Japanese green tea.
• Mariage Frères: French heritage tea house founded in 1854, with a global tea salon, museum, and premium loose-leaf tea retail. Comparable to Yamamotoyama in long heritage, premium positioning, and tightly integrated retail experience.
• Lupicia: Japanese specialty tea retailer with 200+ stores offering loose-leaf teas, matcha, and tea accessories. Comparable to Yamamotoyama in multi-channel retail and curated Japanese tea assortment, though positioned more in the modern/lifestyle segment than heritage.
• Harney & Sons: American premium tea company founded in 1983 with a strong multi-channel model (D2C, wholesale, tea salons, hotels). Comparable to Yamamotoyama in premium tea assortment, gift/gourmet positioning, and tea room-as-experience retail, though with a more recent and Western heritage.
• Marutomo Co., Ltd. Major Japanese dried seaweed (nori) and seafood-snack manufacturer with retail and foodservice distribution. Closest direct peer for Yamamotoyama's nori product line, with overlapping retail and online distribution channels.
• Ippodo Tea Co., Ltd. Ippodo is a Kyoto-based premium Japanese green tea company founded in 1717, comparable to Yamamotoyama in heritage depth, premium positioning across sencha, gyokuro, and matcha, and direct-to-consumer retail including its own Marunouchi tea shop. Ippodo is the most direct Japanese tea peer in scale and category mix.

Broad incumbents

• Itoen, Ltd. Japan's largest packaged tea company (Oi Ocha brand), a broad incumbent operating in bottled green tea, sencha, and tea bags. Overlaps Yamamotoyama in Japanese tea at much larger scale across grocery and convenience retail.
• Asahi Soft Drinks (Itoen, AGF): Large Japanese beverage manufacturer spanning bottled tea, coffee, and RTD categories. Comparable to Yamamotoyama as a broad Japanese tea and beverage incumbent, though at vastly larger scale and lower-margin CPG economics.

Emerging players

• THE MATCHA TOKYO: Modern Japanese matcha and tea brand targeting younger consumers with cafe locations and D2C. Comparable to Yamamotoyama's YMY sub-brand initiative in product category and modern consumer target, but operating at much smaller scale and with a digital-first go-to-market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yamamotoyama