Founder's Story
Me and SALON DE MATCHA
Founder · 創業者
MIKI · 上原未來
My First Encounter
with MatchaA Childhood
In Japan, there is a beautiful tradition called Sado — the art of the tea ceremony — where matcha is prepared and shared with the utmost care and intention.
Growing up with a mother deeply rooted in this world, matcha always felt like something special, almost untouchable, to me as a child. My favorite part? The seasonal wagashi sweets served just before the tea. That little moment of sweetness was my very first encounter with the world of matcha.
A Perspective
Shaped in Paris
Born in Kagoshima and raised in San Francisco, my path eventually led me to France. While I was a student at ESRA Paris, I launched my career as a video journalist — covering Paris Fashion Week, documenting the pulse of the times through my lens.
Back in Japan, I joined Lagardère Active / Hachette Fujingaho (Hearst Fujingaho) as a Video Producer, leading digital strategies for ELLE and other luxury lifestyle titles. As an independent creator, I've gone on to work with global names including the LVMH Group, Yomiuri Shimbun Group, and Télé 5 Monde. For nearly two decades, my work has centered on one thing: finding the beauty in a subject and sharing it with the world through language and visuals.
The Dissonance
I Couldn't Ignore
In June 2025, a simple request from a close friend in Qatar changed everything:
"Can you bring me some real matcha from Japan?"
What I found there was striking. "MATCHA" had gone global — but in many cases, it had lost its soul along the way. And the voices leading the global conversation around matcha? Often, they weren't Japanese.
Coming home to Japan, the picture became even clearer. My hometown, Kagoshima, had quietly become Japan's #1 producer of tencha — the raw leaf used to make matcha. Yet Kagoshima remained largely invisible, its name unknown while it powered the reputations of other regions. A story untold. A value unrecognized.
SALON DE MATCHA
Is Born
As a media professional, I couldn't look away. The global misunderstanding of matcha, and the beauty of my hometown, still waiting to be discovered by the world — despite being number one — lit something in me.
"To carry Kagoshima's matcha into the world — as a luxury brand beloved across borders."
From that quiet conviction, SALON DE MATCHA was born.
Together with Friends,
One Journey Forward
I joined forces with two kindred spirits — friends who, like me, were shaped by France and share a deep love for our homeland.
Chef/Kagoshima
Nobuyasu MORIOKA 森岡伸安
Honed at the three-Michelin-starred Georges Blanc in France, Nobuya Morioka leads the next generation of Japanese cuisine as chairman of a culinary academy. At the helm of Tenza — a generations-old Satsuma catering house — and the contemporary venture Chef's Table Kagoshima, he bridges living tradition with the refined sensibility he forged in French kitchens, bringing a new chapter of gastronomy to Kagoshima.
Designer/Qatar
AZUMI アズミ
a designer who served as Atelier Director at Christian Dior and collaborated with Middle Eastern royal families before opening her own haute couture atelier in Qatar. Through the Yumi Katsura Arabia project, she transforms traditional Japanese kimonos into couture works of art — honoring and evolving Japan’s timeless heritage.
Any Space Becomes
Your Tea Sanctuary
The name SALON DE MATCHA was inspired by the salon culture I fell in love with in Paris — the idea that any space can become a sanctuary. Your office, a hotel room, even an airplane cabin: with the right cup of matcha, it becomes your own private tea moment.
Starting with matcha, we carry the energy, food, and art of Kagoshima to the world — sharing the beauty of our homeland in a contemporary form, and bringing joy to everyone we meet along the way. That is the reason SALON DE MATCHA exists.
