Is Japanese Green Tea Radioactive? The Fukushima NuclearDisaster's Effect On Japanese Teas

Directly following the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, the government of Japan promisedus that the agricultural industry had not been affected in a negative way. As the months passed andone product after another coming from an ever increasing radius around the disaster area was foundunsafe for human consumption and taken off the market, fears began to spread concerning otherproducts from Japan.

Pretty soon, elevated levels of Cesium were being detected in samples of tea from a number ofprefectures surrounding Fukushima. As a result, the government ordered a halt in tea shipmentsfrom the prefectures of Ibaraki, Chiba, Kanagawa and Tochigi, which are all located in the East ofthe country.

None of those prefectures are major tea producers; and for the time being, Shizuoka, whichproduces 40% of Japan's tea output and is located over 300km from the disaster area, had not beenaffected. In June of 2011 that changed, when elevated levels of Cesium were found in tea leaves inShizuoka. Additionally, a shipment of tea leaves containing double the accepted level of Cesium wasintercepted in Paris.

Most of Japan's tea is grown far to the west of the disaster area. Shizuoka is the closest of the majortea producing regions and it is also the only one affected by radiation. Most of the teas tested fromShizuoka showed trace amounts of radiation, but only a few have been found to contain radiation inexcess of the safety standards and then only in the dry leaves. Once steeped, the radiation levels arewell below the safety limits imposed by the government.

Furthermore, the radiation limits imposed by the Japanese government are much more stringentthan those of most other organizations at 500 Becquerels (Bq) per kilogram, which is the same limitadopted by the European Union in 2011. The WHO has a limit of 1000 Bq/kg, while the limit set bythe government of the United States is 1200 Bq/kg.

If you steep your tea leaves and don't consume them directly, you can safely drink tea from Shizuokaprefecture. If you want to be especially careful, stick to tea from Japan's other major tea growingregions: the Uji region and the Yame, Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures are alllocated far to the west of Fukushima and have shown no races of contamination whatsoever.

If you consume whole tea leaves or if you use Matcha green tea powder, which is made from wholeleaves, it would make sense to avoid any tea produced in Shizuoka. Luckily, the best Matcha comes

from the Uji and the Yame regions anyway.

Any specialty tea shop or online tea shop should be able to tell you where their tea comes fromexactly. If you are buying Matcha or if you otherwise consume your tea leaves whole--or if you aresimply worried--avoid tea from Shizuoka and buy from any of Japan's other major tea producingareas instead. Above all, no matter where you buy your tea, enjoy it!