I recently read in a book called (roughly) "100 teas, 100 stories" (or
something similar, I don't have it at hand at the moment) that the tea
traditionally enjoyed by the imperial family here in Japan, Uji tea,
has been grown for the most part in Fukuoka since about the 1980's.
Apparently technological advancements have made the spacious tracts in
Fukuoka more capable of growing the bancha and matcha that the Uji
region was famous for and so they truck it into Uji and label it there
and it becomes Uji-cha. The brand appeal of the Uji region is very
strong here and obviously the price rises accordingly. The Fukuoka
grown tea is apparently better quality as well, so consumers are happy
with it (and I suppose getting their money's worth in a roundabout
sort of way). I wonder if anyone knows of any other interesting
marketing ploys in the tea world (aside from Taiwanese "Champagne").
Perhaps some smart people are shipping tea into Darjeeling or into
Fujian for the brand appeal. Or just skipping it all together and
faking labels.

Rufus T. Firefly
Tokyo