To the uninitiated, the idea of a green-tea recycling market is likely to inspire visions of used tea-leaves rescued from strainers. Not so for Nobuyuki Kakizaki, the manager of tea-shop Uogashi Meicha Tsukiji Shinten, located in Tokyo's Tsukiji district. For him it's an event held early each February that attracts over 200 visitors.
The market — which is perhaps more accurately described as a "tea trade-in" — is about exchanging unwanted tea for new tea (made by Uogashi). "In Japan people receive lots of tea as gifts — for example, after a funeral — which might not be very high quality," said Kakizaki.
And it's not just funerals either. Green tea, and in particular the most common variety, sencha, is a popular gift for occasions such as the birth of a child or recovery from illness