About Us
Our Story
TANAKA-NL, specialising in Hagi ware from Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, and expanding into Europe, is now launching the full-scale sale of Japanese tea (tea bags).
The teas we handle are not matcha. We offer only three varieties: genmaicha, sencha, and hojicha – teas Japanese people drink daily. Having enjoyed these teas for over a decade, we recommend them with the utmost confidence.
These teas will be provided in tea bags.
History of Tanatou Tea Shop since 1930.
The port city of Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, has long been culturally sophisticated, with the tea ceremony flourishing greatly.
It is also the birthplace of the Urasenke Tea Ceremony School's Youth Division. In this city, in 1930, the first-generation founder, Kisaku Tanatou, established Tanatou Shoten, a business encompassing tea wholesaling, retail, and the sale of tea utensils. He grew it into a long-established tea wholesaler, supplying tea to the Navy even before the war, naming teas after destroyers.
Ten years ago, the third-generation proprietor, Yoshichō Muraya, took over the family business. He has developed a deep-steamed tea bag series focused on premium tea leaves and created body-friendly sweets. Furthermore, aiming to make Japanese tea and the tea ceremony more accessible, he has expanded the business to include the Japanese tea café ‘Tanatō Chahō’.
Four Points of Commitment
1. Steaming
The steaming method after tea picking largely determines the tea's “flavour, aroma, and colour”. Steaming time is extended by two to three times compared to ordinary sencha, resulting in a deep green liquor and a mellow flavour characterised by pronounced umami and sweetness.
2. Tea leaves
Due to the deep steaming and high-temperature firing method, we use robust, thick-leaved tea leaves. The leaves are carefully selected first flush tea (new tea) harvested in winter, rich in nutrients, sourced exclusively from contracted farmers in Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Yame, and Uji.
3. Firing
To overcome the weakness of deep-steamed tea, which is its lack of aroma, we employ high-temperature firing to simultaneously draw out both sweetness and fragrance.
4. Tea bag
Whole tea leaves are placed inside a pyramid-shaped silk mesh tea bag. This allows the leaves to unfurl, extracting a flavour and aroma similar to that achieved when brewed in a teapot.
※Deep-steamed tea leaves break down into a powdery consistency, yet as all the leaves are absorbed by the body, you can take in all the nutrients without leaving any behind.
Let’s Work Together
TANAKA - Tea
Shujiro TANAKA
KVK：93620608
Schanshoek 59, 1188LL Amstelveen NL
E-Mail:
We currently calculate delivery to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France. However, please contact us for more information regarding delivery to other countries.