At Sankyodo, we proudly offer matcha from Kanbayashi Shunsho Honten, a historic tea producer in Uji, Kyoto.

A chatsubo is a large ceramic jar used to store tencha, the dried tea leaves before being ground into matcha. In contrast, the jar used to serve koicha (thick tea) is called a cha-ire (tea caddy), which is often referred to as a kotsubo (small jar), while the chatsubo is also known as otsubo (large jar).

The chatsubo appears in the traditional Japanese nursery rhyme “Zuizuizukkorobashi.” It is said that this song reflects the spectacle of transporting tribute tea in tea jars from Uji to Edo during the Edo period—described from the common people’s perspective (though there are various interpretations).