My name is Miki from MIKI TV, a beauty and food journalist with over 15 years of experience traveling the world.

In June 2025, during a stay in Qatar, I realized I couldn’t find a single matcha latte that truly satisfied me. So I decided: “If it doesn’t exist here, I will bring it myself.”

That decision led me back to my roots in Kagoshima, Japan’s leading producer of tencha, the raw tea leaves used for matcha. As I began working closely with the local tea industry, I discovered a bittersweet truth: although Kagoshima produces the most tencha in Japan, it is far less recognized than regions like Uji in Kyoto or Shizuoka. Many of these famous areas actually buy large volumes of Kagoshima tencha and blend it into their products—so unless a label clearly says “100%,” there is often a hidden story of Kagoshima leaves inside.

As someone born in Kagoshima, this reality was painful. At the same time, it ignited a new determination in me: to help “Kagoshima” itself become a visible, respected brand, and to raise awareness of the true value of its matcha on the world stage.

Visiting tea farms one by one, I searched for producers who shared this vision at a time when high-quality matcha was becoming increasingly rare. Together with JA Kagoshima, local producers, and my brother-in-law, Chef Nobuyasu Morioka—who trained at a three-Michelin-star restaurant in France, leads a catering company with over 40 years of history, and serves as a board member of a culinary vocational school in Kagoshima—based in Kagoshima and responsible for sourcing, proper storage, recipe supervision, and promotional activities in collaboration with Kagoshima—we have built a direct bridge from the tea fields of Kagoshima to the Middle East, delivering matcha in its freshest, most authentic form.

Matcha is not only delicious; it also supports beauty and health from within.

That is why Salon de Matcha is more than a brand that “sells matcha.” Our matcha philosophy turns any place—a hotel lounge, a clinic waiting room, a boutique, even a private living room—into a beautiful salon where people can gather, relax, and be served a proper bowl of matcha.

In collaboration with Atelier Azumi Couture in Qatar and the local Japanese and matcha-lover communities, we are carefully crafting experiences that connect Japan and the Arab world through this small bowl of green tea.

“One bowl of matcha can warm hearts across the globe.”

Our dream is to create spaces throughout the Middle East where people can gather, connect, and experience the heart of Japan through Kagoshima matcha.

This is the journey we have begun at Salon de Matcha.