What is and was Uji Matcha?

In this editorial conversation, Ryan and Zongjun (Sam) interrogate the term "Uji matcha" and its tangled provenance: what it once meant, and how it has quietly changed over the years. Was Uji ever really a single origin? What did the Edo-period ochashi monopoly actually control, and what broke when the shogunate fell? How does one trademark end up stretched across four prefectures? And how much Uji Matcha actually actually remains "single origin" when Uji produces only 37 tons of tencha a year?

Uji-no-Matcha Series:

Part 1: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth

Part 2: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-2a5

Part 3: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-108

Part 4: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-ca7

Part 5: https://sankomatcha.substack.com/p/uji-no-matcha-the-inconvenient-truth-2b3