Matcha Price Per Gram 2026: 8 Japanese Tea Houses Compared

Matcha prices in 2026 are hard to read because every shop quotes a different tin size, a different currency and a different idea of what "ceremonial" means. So we did the arithmetic for you. This guide takes the live price of every single tin from eight Japanese tea houses, divides by the weight, and shows what a gram and a bowl actually cost, with the date and the source for every figure.

How much does matcha cost per gram in 2026?

On 21 October 2026 we recorded 89 single tins of 50 grams or less from eight Japanese tea houses, each priced in yen on the shop's own store. The cheapest was Ippodo's Hatsu-mukashi at ¥800 for 20 grams, or ¥40 per gram. The most expensive was Nakamura Tokichi's Premium Hatsu-Mukashi No.1 at ¥55,556 for 20 grams, or ¥2,778 per gram, which was sold out. The middle tin across all eight houses cost ¥180 per gram, about $1.14 at the European Central Bank rate of ¥157.88 per dollar.

The chart shows each house's cheapest and priciest single tin. Most houses sit in a narrow band at the bottom, ¥40 to ¥83 per gram for their entry grade, and their top grade then costs between four and nineteen times their entry grade, or 45 times at Nakamura Tokichi. Hatoya is the exception because its store lists only premium blends, so its cheapest tin already costs ¥320 per gram.

Which Japanese tea house has the cheapest matcha per gram?

Ippodo's Hatsu-mukashi is the lowest at ¥40 per gram, followed by Hoshino Seichaen's Yame-no-hana at ¥50 (a ¥1,000, 20 gram zip bag), Fukujuen's IYEMON at ¥52 (¥1,560 for 30 grams), Marukyu Koyamaen's Aoarashi at ¥53 (¥2,120 for 40 grams) and Nakamura Tokichi's Ukishima-no-Shiro at ¥61 (¥1,834 for 30 grams). Yugen Kyoto's numbered Uji Matcha #0 follows at ¥66 per gram, and Horii Shichimeien's Uji Mukashi at ¥83, a figure that includes tax. Entry grades are not equivalent across houses, but Marukyu Koyamaen's own description of Aoarashi as "recommended for making thin tea" and "perfect for mixing with milk or cream" is typical of what the cheapest tins are for.

What does one bowl of matcha cost?

Ippodo's own usucha recipe sifts 2 grams of matcha into a bowl and whisks it with 60 mL of 80 degree Celsius water, so a bowl costs the price per gram times two. At the cheapest tins that is about $0.51 at Ippodo's global store, $0.63 at Hoshino Seichaen, $0.66 at Fukujuen, $0.67 at Marukyu Koyamaen and $1.05 at Horii Shichimeien. A typical tin costs $1.14 to $3.20 per bowl at every store below except Hatoya, whose premium-only range averages $11.18. Koicha, the thick tea, uses more powder per bowl, so its cost per bowl is higher still.

Ippodo's own channel shows both preparations. Its two English videos below walk through usucha and koicha with the quantities, which is the easiest way to check how much powder one bowl actually takes.

How to prepare Usucha (thin matcha)Ippodo Tea (official channel) · YouTube

• How to prepare Usucha (thin matcha)Ippodo Tea (official channel)
• How to prepare Koicha (thick matcha)Ippodo Tea (official channel)
• Matcha taste test: Ippodo Tea reviewemily wada

Is Ippodo cheaper from its Japan store or its US store?

Not on sticker price. Comparing the same grade per gram, the US store at ippodotea.com listed higher prices than the global store at global.ippodo-tea.co.jp for all six grades we could match: 74 percent higher for Wakaki and Kan, 92 percent for Ikuyo, 29 percent for Ummon, 12 percent for Kuon and 9 percent for Kanza. The gap shrinks as the grade gets more expensive.

Sticker price is only half the story. Neither price includes shipping, and import duty and taxes depend on your country and on which store you use, so compare each store's full total at checkout. Read our breakdown of Ippodo's DHL shipping rates and its 1 October 2026 price increase before you choose. Ummon is the one matched pair that is not like for like: the global store sells a 20 gram box and the US store a 40 gram can.

Why are matcha prices so high in 2026?

Demand from abroad has outrun the supply of tea leaves. The Global Japanese Tea Association's April 2026 report states: "Strong demand for matcha in Europe and the United States has tightened supply of domestically produced tea leaves." Ippodo's notice of 19 February 2026 put the price increase in Kyoto Prefecture at about 2.5 times the previous year's average for first-harvest tea and 2.6 times for matcha, and warned that it "may implement temporary suspensions or purchase limits on other products." Those figures describe the Kyoto leaf market, not a forecast, but they explain why even entry tins now cost more than a bowl of ordinary green tea. For the buying side of the shortage, see our guide to buying matcha in Japan in 2026.

Which grade should you actually buy for the price?

Match the tin to how you drink it, not to the price tag. Marukyu Koyamaen's own product descriptions are a useful key: Aoarashi and Isuzu are "recommended for making thin tea" and for mixing with milk or cream, Choan suits "a thin tea with a thicker texture," and the prize-winning Tenju is "recommended for making thick tea." In a 2015 TeaChat thread, member Tead Off wrote: "The price of the 'high' grade usucha, usually falls in the middle range of the full line up of a particular seller." That is a decade-old rule of thumb, and our table agrees in spirit: a seller's median tin sits well above its cheapest and far below its top. If you drink lattes, buy the entry grade. If you whisk usucha, spend at the middle. Save the top tins for koicha or for gifts.

Which of these tins can you actually buy today?

Fewer than half. Of the 89 single tins we checked, 41 were in stock. Fukujuen had all 12 available, Ippodo 10 of 11, Nakamura Tokichi 15 of 16 and Yugen Kyoto 4 of 5, but Marukyu Koyamaen had none of its 19, Hoshino Seichaen none of 8, Horii Shichimeien none of 12 and Hatoya none of 6. Marukyu Koyamaen's notice, updated 13 May 2026, says it restocks randomly, only on Japanese weekdays between 9:00 and 17:30, and announces no schedule. Our guide to catching a Marukyu Koyamaen restock shows the checkout steps, and a restock alert tells you the moment a sold-out tin returns, so you can buy at the price in this table.

How were these prices collected?

Every price was read on 21 October 2026 from the shop's own English-language store: Ippodo global and US stores, Marukyu Koyamaen's International Online Shop, Nakamura Tokichi's global store, Horii Shichimeien, Fukujuen, Hatoya and Yugen Kyoto, plus Rocky's Matcha and Kyo Hayashiya in US dollars. Hoshino Seichaen sells only through a Japanese-language domestic store, so we used its listed price before tax. We kept tins of 50 grams or less so that bulk bags do not flatter the comparison, and left out sweetened blends, stick packs, kits and hojicha. Price per gram is the listed price divided by the weight on the label. Yen were converted with the European Central Bank reference rate published through Frankfurter. Yamamasa Koyamaen has no international shop and we could not find an official one for Kanbayashi Shunsho, as our posts on Yamamasa and Kanbayashi explain, so neither is charted.

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