The Tea Industry in Japan During the Edo Period

Small amounts of tea had left the country during the edo od via the dutch trade mission in nagasaki, but the restricted nature of that trade meant it never really accounted for much. By 19 25, about half of japan's annual tea production went to the us. The drive towards large scale factory farms and towards producing for the export market. Also helped eliminate the last vestiges of smaller tea fields in favor of larger farms that could operate on scale. There are still a few of these legacy tea fields left, but the tea business in Japan is far more consolidated than it used to be.