An immense variety of bottled teas, from plain green tea to blends, are now sold in Japan.
Green tea has a deeply embedded place in Japanese culture.
A visit to a neighbor for a trifling matter will often culminate in an invitation for a cup of tea, and when paying a visit to a company on business, guests are bound to be served the beverage. Recently, however, quite removed from the traditional way of drinking, a new phenomenon of consuming ready-made tea has been spreading. These teas are sold everywhere from vending machines to supermarkets, and have exploded in variety to include black and Chinese teas in addition to green, as well as some that use more unusual ingredients. The source of this new tea boom is the introduction of the 500-milliliter bottled tea. This size allows consumers to drink a bit at a time, replace the lid so it does not spill, and carry the beverage around.