TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 17, 2026--
The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center (JFOODO), a Japanese Government-related Organization, will launch the OCHA SHOP CHANNEL in October 2026. Responding to growing interest in Japanese green tea among U.S. consumers, the new platform will feature content from Japanese tea producers and businesses highlighting the unique appeal and stories behind their products. In conjunction with this initiative, the official JFOODO Amazon Storefront, where consumers can purchase Japanese tea, will undergo a complete redesign.
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Amid the global popularity of matcha, interest in Japanese tea continues to grow in the United States. At the same time, consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to identify products that are genuinely sourced from Japan and distinguish among different tea varieties and quality levels.
Through the OCHA SHOP CHANNEL, JFOODO aims to provide consumers with information about producers, tea origins, and the stories behind products, while also providing links to purchasing channels such as the Amazon Storefront and online shops operated by individual businesses. Creating a better environment where U.S. consumers can learn about, choose, and purchase Japanese tea will make genuine green tea from Japan more familiar and enjoyable.
In addition to matcha, the OCHA SHOP CHANNEL will also feature information on other types of Japanese tea that have been gaining popularity in the U.S. in recent years, such as hojicha *1, providing opportunities to discover new varieties of Japanese tea.
OCHA SHOP CHANNEL – Discover Japanese Tea through the People and Stories behind It
The OCHA SHOP CHANNEL is a new content platform where Japanese tea producers and businesses share the unique qualities of their teas, information about tea-growing regions, and their approach to cultivation and craftsmanship. It also provides tips on brewing, suggestions for food pairings, and more. Introducing not only products but the people, land, and production methods behind them provides U.S. consumers with opportunities to learn more about Japanese tea.
The content will be distributed primarily through YouTube, complemented by Instagram Reels, podcasts, and the JFOODO website. Product introductions will include information on how to purchase them on Amazon Storefront, online shops operated by individual businesses, and more, linking interest from content to actual product selection and purchases.
Amazon Storefront Redesigned to Make Discovering Japanese Tea Easy
In addition to matcha and hojicha, the redesigned Amazon Storefront will feature a wide range of Japanese tea including gyokuro *2, sencha *3, and genmaicha *4. Products will be organized not only by tea variety and flavor profile, but also by lifestyle-oriented themes such as “Morning Focus,” “Afternoon Reset” and “Weekend Ritual.”
To further enhance discoverability, a new OCHA SHOP CHANNEL banner will be featured on the Storefront, allowing consumers to access the product pages of participating businesses directly. Together with the OCHA SHOP CHANNEL, the JFOODO website, and Instagram content, the Storefront is designed to support consumers throughout the journey from learning about Japanese tea to selecting and purchasing products.
Amazon Storefront URL: https://www.amazon.com/japanesegreentea
(First update scheduled for late October)
*1: A Japanese tea made by roasting processed green tea, resulting in a distinctive aroma and mild flavor.
*2: A Japanese green tea grown under shade before harvest, a cultivation method also used for matcha. It is shaded for a shorter period than matcha.
*3: The most widely consumed type of green tea in Japan.
*4: A blend of Japanese green tea and toasted rice.
About JFOODO
JFOODO (The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center) was established by the Japanese government in 2017 with the aim of boosting the export of Japanese agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products by branding them and promoting them widely around the world.
Website: https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/jfoodo/
A Japanese Government-related Organization Launches OCHA SHOP CHANNEL to Help U.S. Consumers Discover and Purchase Authentic Japanese Tea
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top official at the Kennedy Center said Thursday that he closed the iconic performing arts center temporarily due to “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration" of the aging building.
Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center's executive director and chief operating officer, said in a federal court filing that the building will be closed for at least seven days to "assess existing safety risks in those portions of the main building exhibiting severe structural deterioration.”
The temporary closure, which occurred without notice Wednesday, is separate from a vote Tuesday by the Kennedy Center's board to close the performing arts center indefinitely for repairs, Floca and other officials said. The closure was based on an inspection of the roof terrace canopy and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month, Floca said. The closure may be extended after evaluation next week, he said.
The announcement of the closure came in response to a court case filed by a Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee and sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the building's “unlawful closing.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has led efforts to block President Donald Trump’s name from being added to the building. Beatty had a verbal confrontation with the Republican president Tuesday during a virtual board meeting.
Beatty's lawyers said in a court filing Thursday that the board members' “rationale that they are only temporarily closing the Kennedy Center is a plain pretext to justify shutting down the Center permanently. The facts before the Court are deeply concerning.”
They urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to hold a hearing to clarify the board's actions and intent. They also asked the judge “to make crystal clear” that his order prohibits demolition of the building.
The Trump-aligned board, chaired by the president, voted to close the center after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, said Wednesday that his efforts to restore the aging building deserve recognition, “because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape.”
Congress has allocated $257 million to cover the repairs, but Trump said they only would happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
On Thursday, Barbra Streisand, a Kennedy Center honoree in 2008, questioned the closing of the center for repairs and called the controversy surrounding its operation “galling and painful to witness.”
Of Trump’s attempts to add his name to the center, she said in a statement to The Associated Press: “You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
The Kennedy Center board voted in August to inscribe Trump's name on the Kennedy Center’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also have been renamed in Trump’s honor.
All of those proposals were shot down Tuesday by Cooper, who ruled that nothing could happen “without Congress’s blessing.”
Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building, ordering it removed. The institution’s leaders complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding in place where Trump’s name was once displayed.
Streisand told AP she was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees, adding, “for me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”
Associated Press writer Glenn Gamboa in Cleveland contributed to this report.
Fencing is installed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Laura Bligh of Vienna, Va., holds a protest sign outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and board member of the Kennedy Center, attends an event with fellow Democrats to denounce the economic policies of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Barricades are installed in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
