Ippodo Tea traces its origins to Kyoto in 1717, when Rihei Watanabe, a merchant from Ōmi (present-day Shiga Prefecture), established a shop called Omiya near the Kyoto Imperial Palace. At the time, the business dealt in both tea and ceramics, serving Kyoto during a period when the city was firmly established as Japan's cultural and political centre.
In 1846, the business received the name Ippodo from Prince Yamashina. Meaning "preserve one", the name reflected his wish that the company preserve one enduring tradition: producing tea of the highest quality. The name has remained with the company ever since and continues to define its guiding philosophy.
As Japanese tea culture evolved, Ippodo gradually shifted its focus exclusively to tea. During the Meiji period, the company exported tea to the United States before transitioning its attention to the domestic Japanese market in the Taishō era. Throughout the twentieth century, it expanded its retail presence, opened its Kyoto tearoom, introduced tea workshops and established stores beyond Kyoto, while remaining under family ownership.
Today, Ippodo's teas are produced using leaves grown primarily in Kyoto, Nara and Shiga Prefectures. The company works closely with experienced tea growers, carefully evaluating each harvest before procuring the tea leaves used in its blends. According to Ippodo, selecting tea leaves that meet its standards and blending them into consistent house brands form the foundation of its work. Rather than defining its teas by individual farms or harvests, the company develops each blend to deliver a consistent flavour profile from year to year, despite natural seasonal variation.
Ippodo currently produces more than thirty house blends across four principal categories: matcha, gyokuro, sencha and bancha. Each blend is developed with a distinct flavour profile and intended style of preparation, reflecting the company's long-standing approach to tea evaluation and blending. Many of Ippodo's matcha names have been bestowed by the heads of Japan's traditional schools of tea, reflecting the company's long-standing relationship with the practice of chanoyu.