Is Japanese Tea Contaminated?

Japanese Tea and Fukushima – A Factual Clarification

Years after the Fukushima incident, rumors persist that tea and matcha from Japan might be radioactively contaminated. Yet such concerns are best addressed through verified facts. Here is the current and official assessment:

Authentic Japanese tea and matcha, sourced from reputable suppliers in Germany, have never been radioactively contaminated.

All food imports from non-EU countries are subject to regular inspections by customs and food safety authorities. Since the Fukushima event, checks on products from Japan have become significantly more stringent. Every Japanese exporter must provide a safety certificate issued by national authorities based on independent laboratory analyses.

Japan’s tea-growing regions are located exclusively south of Tokyo, far from the affected area. The historic heart of matcha cultivation lies in Uji – over 730 km from Fukushima:

Source: luftlinie.org

Since 2011, many producers have moved their cultivation even farther south, especially to the island of Kyūshū. Kagoshima, now a key matcha region, lies more than 1,100 km away from Fukushima:

Source: luftlinie.org

While radioactive particles can travel long distances, their dispersion is shaped by wind and ocean currents rather than a simple radius from the site of release.

The Swiss platform meteocentrale.ch has published scientifically modeled simulations of dispersion patterns.

Predicted emission spread at three altitudes (10 m, 500 m, 1,500 m above sea level):

Projected wind directions at 10 m above ground:

Video source: meteocentrale.ch

These simulations clearly show that the regions where Japanese tea is cultivated were not exposed to radioactive contamination.

Tea and matcha from Japan remain safe and uncontaminated.