Jugetsudo Tea House

Our 170-year history

Maruyama Nori was founded in 1854–at the end of the Edo period–in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo and carried out the wholesale trade of dried seaweed. Our founder, Hikobei Tsushima, established the firm under the name of Kawaguchiya, bringing us to the beginning of the history of our company.

Hikobei supplied Kyoto's aristocracy, discerning gourmets of perfect seaweed. The reputation of his products grew and spread. An innovator, Hikobei packaged the seaweed not in traditional ceramic pots but in modern tin cans. The ambitious and enterprising spirit of our founder remains alive and well at Maruyama Nori today. Today, Maruyama Nori supplies seaweed to some three thousand restaurants throughout Japan, including a dozen Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo in 2019.

Jugetsudo Tea house

In 1980, the Japanese tea brand Jugetsudo was created within the company, according to the same criteria of very high quality and innovation.
This is the most beautiful legacy of the old nori trade: to transmit to customers, through the grace of tea, a certain spirit of Japanese taste, guaranteeing authentic values and delicate flavors.

From ancient times, the Japanese have been attuned to the worship of nature, knowing how to savor its beauty, as for example, the view of the moon rising in the sky and glowing onto the mountain slope, reflecting in the water… While contemplating this backdrop, they would write poems and have tea, and present offerings to the full moon at harvest time… Jugetsudo means “the place from where one looks at the moon.” At the time of founding Jugetsudo, we had in mind this sentiment towards nature–so particular to the Japanese heart–of deeply savoring the existence and the passing of the seasons. We would like this place to put into practice and transmit the art of Japanese tea.

Store concepts

  • Ginza

    Our shop faces the rooftop garden of the renowned Kabuki-za theater. While the interior space is divided by irregularly spaced bamboo panels, the overhanging roof of the Japanese garden appears folded, creating a discontinuity with the interior bamboo ceiling, reminiscent of origami. The interior and exterior, thus linked by these overlapping and irregular bamboo motifs, form a unique space that evokes a natural bamboo grove.

Ginza Boutique
Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan 104-0061
Opening hours: 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Saturday)
Tea Room: 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (last order 5:00 p.m.)

  • TsukiSchool

    The shop's design, inspired by nodategasa, the umbrellas used in outdoor tea ceremonies, symbolizes the spirit of chazen. Nodate outdoor ceremonies, said to have been initiated by Sen no Rikyū, emphasize hospitality over the rigidity of ceremony and resonate perfectly with the flexible spirit of Jugetsudo, which continues to keep chazen alive today.
    Our two other boutiques – Paris and Ginza Kabuki-za – were also designed using bamboo as a material. However, at Tsukiji, we wanted to create an airy space open to the outside, evoking the coolness of a Nodate ceremony. In the lively atmosphere of the Tsukiji district, the bamboo undulates on the walls and ceiling, spreading out like a parasol that warmly envelops visitors. The shop, without partitions, extends from the street and attracts curious onlookers as if a real tea ceremony under an umbrella were taking place there, before their eyes, offering a relaxing experience.

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Tsukiji Shop
Tsukiji Kyoeikai Bldg. IF 4-7-5 Tsukiji
Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan 104-0045
Opening hours: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Sundays & public holidays)
Tea Room: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (last order 4:00 p.m., closed on Sundays and public holidays)

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  • Paris

    We chose to entrust the design of our store to the architect Kengo Kuma, who carries out many large projects around the world, because his ideas and the spirit of his work perfectly match our concept of the Jugetsudo brand, that of a “harmony of tradition and renewal”.
    An original and unique design, yet one that also harmonizes with the atmosphere of the neighborhood. A blend of traditional and natural materials, such as bamboo, and modern materials.
    The ground floor houses the shop and tasting area. You'll discover a minimalist décor, furnished with a large Japanese cypress counter and adorned with countless bamboo stalks suspended from the ceiling. A large cast-iron kettle sits on the counter. Here, customers can enjoy our range of authentic green teas, served in elegant teaware, as well as our tea cakes. We also offer tea sets and all the necessary green tea accessories.
    In the basement is a somewhat mysterious space, a sort of underground grotto in Paris, dedicated to the Chazen gallery and the tea ceremony. We organize various events inspired by the four seasons, such as exhibitions of traditional art objects, tea ceremony sessions given by masters, concerts, etc.

The Jugetsudo Tea House
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 95 rue de Seine, Paris Ge
Opening hours: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM (closed on Sundays and public holidays)
Tea room: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Metro: Odéon or Mabillon
Tel: +33 (0) 1 46 33 94 90
chumon@maruyamanori.com

  • Kengo Kuma

    Architect of the "Jugetsudo Japanese Tea House" boutique

    The "Bamboo Temple," a kind of tea-themed wonderland that Kengo Kuma conceived for the Jugetsudo Japanese tea house, embodies in its transparent and airy design the major themes of his remarkable work. Indeed, Kengo Kuma himself wrote of his work, "I want to erase architecture," which leads him to constantly invent new processes and new objects.
    Also, the Jugetsudo Boutique, designed by an exceptional architect, will be able to integrate, through its simple and light elegance, into the classical architecture and atmosphere of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district.
    Inaugurated in October 2008, the Jugetsudo store in Paris was therefore Kengo Kuma's first work in Europe, before the opening of the Cité des Arts et de la Culture in Besançon in 2013.
    “I wanted to create a space that evokes a clearing in a bamboo forest. In these woods, one breathes an air different from that of the ordinary world: a light radiates from them that is not the usual light. In the middle of this special space, I placed a plank of Japanese cypress, solid and knot-free. Japanese tradition attributed to this wood the magical power to make whatever is placed upon it smooth. I wanted people to sense that they are experiencing the essence of Japan by placing their hands on this counter. In the basement is a stone-paved room, dedicated to the tea ceremony, a place of intriguing mystery, a kind of subterranean grotto in Paris. I would like people to discover another aspect of green tea there.

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