Ryuoen Chaho

Ryuoen Chaho (柳桜園茶舗, also written 柳櫻園茶舗; corporate name: 有限会社伊藤柳櫻園茶舗) is a matcha specialty shop founded in Meiji 8 (1875) in Kyoto's Gosho-minami district, south of the Imperial Palace. The founder, Itō Katsuji (伊藤勝治), came from a storied Kuwana, Mie merchant family and opened the shop on Mannomachi after the turmoil of the Meiji Restoration. The shop holds the rare distinction of being designated official matcha supplier to all three houses of the Sansenke (三千家御用達) — Urasenke, Omotesenke, and Mushanokoji Senke — as well as to Daitoku-ji and its affiliated temples. Ryuoen Chaho maintains the founding-era practice of selecting the finest shade-grown Uji tencha, stone-grinding it on-site in the back of the shop, and selling it by weight at the counter. Customers seeking their preferred grade may bring their own tea canisters for filling. The shop has branch counters at Takashimaya department stores in Kyoto, Nihonbashi, Shinjuku, Osaka, and Nagoya. In 2025, matcha market prices rose sharply (2.7× over the previous year's harvest), and Ryuoen Chaho adjusted pricing accordingly from February 2025. Address: 〒604-0935 京都府京都市中京区二条御幸町西入丁子屋町690. TEL: 075-231-3693 / FAX: 075-231-2118. Hours: 9:00–18:00, closed Sundays.