Photo/Illutration A staff member prepares tea for guests in a tearoom attached to the Matcha Tokyo Harajuku near JR Harajuku Station in the capital on Nov. 4. (Hirotaka Yamaguchi)

Tourists wanting to join tea parties and try the combination of matcha powered green tea and yoga are flocking to the Matcha Tokyo Harajuku, which has opened in the capital's Harajuku district.

The flagship location of a chain that operates 50 tea cafes around the world, it serves inbound tourists in English, Chinese and three other languages to help familiarize them with Japanese culture through matcha.

Managed by the Matcha Tokyo Co., the Harajuku cafe is its sixth in Japan.

The chain is characterized by the exclusive use of tea leaves organically grown in the country.

Thanks to the increasing worldwide popularity of matcha, 70 percent of its customers in Japan are from outside the country.

The new Harajuku outlet is equipped with a cafe space and a tearoom.

With advance reservations, a staff member wearing a kimono prepares matcha for customers.

The company formed a capital alliance with Ito En Ltd. in March this year to deepen its collaboration with the leading beverage manufacturer and develop products and services in overseas markets.

"I'm happy for the matcha boom, but there have been many cases outside Japan where the tea quality was problematic," Matcha Tokyo President Masahiro Nagata said in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on Nov. 4. "We want to promote the charms of matcha and the authentic flavor to the world from Harajuku."

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