Imamura Tea Plantation LLC, together with Kagoshima Airport Building Co., Ltd. (Kirishima, Kagoshima; President: Hiroaki Furuzono — the operator of Kagoshima Airport), has created a boarding pass-shaped organic sencha tea bag. The retail edition goes on sale at the Imamura Tea Plantation Online Shop on Thursday, July 16.
▶ View the product: BOARDING PASS | Ticket Tea Organic Japanese Tea (¥324, on sale now)
Background
Imamura Tea Plantation began growing tea here in Kirishima in the 1940s and was founded as a tea company in 1970. Kagoshima Airport opened in 1972. For half a century since, we have continued making tea on this land, side by side with the gateway to the skies.
Our tea fields adjoin the east side of the Kagoshima Airport runway, covering about 200,300 square meters — roughly four Tokyo Domes. Kirishima tea grown here, looking out over the Kirishima mountains and the airport, is born of the land's own connections.
An airport is a place of meetings, partings, and countless stories. Imamura Tea Plantation, too, has long shared the appeal of Kirishima with visitors, connecting this region to the world through tea. For two companies that have grown up on the same land, this collaboration arose from a natural bond.
Japanese tea is drawing new attention both in Japan and abroad. In 2024, Kagoshima Prefecture surpassed Shizuoka to become Japan's largest producer of aracha (unrefined tea) for the first time, and kept the top spot in 2025 with 30,000 tons.* Japan's green tea exports reached about 8,800 tons in 2024 — 2.5 times the volume of a decade ago — with export value hitting a record high.* As overseas demand for Japanese tea grows, delivering the tea of Kagoshima and Kirishima to the world matters more with each passing year.
Against this backdrop, when Kagoshima Airport Building exhibited at Routes Asia 2026, an international aviation event held in Xi'an, China in April 2026, it used this package to promote Kagoshima. All 300 tea bags prepared for airline representatives from around the world were handed out at the venue. The design drew keen interest, some visitors came back repeatedly after tasting the tea or asked for extras for their colleagues, and the initiative attracted attention as a promotion linking a boarding pass — the very symbol of an airport — with a local specialty.
Open a cup of tea the way you open a boarding pass, and experience Kagoshima and Kirishima first through aroma and taste. An airport working to open new air routes, and Japanese tea heading out into the world: the boarding pass motif, where these two aspirations meet, is the foundation of this collaboration.
*Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Crop Statistics (2024 and 2025 crops); Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistics; MAFF, Exports of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Products and Food (2024)
At the Kagoshima Airport booth, Routes Asia 2026
Bringing this cup to more people
We wanted to bring this cup, born of our collaboration with Kagoshima Airport Building, to more people. So Imamura Tea Plantation created a new retail package — a sales edition distinct from the amenity version distributed at events. Open it like a boarding pass, and set off for Kirishima from a single cup of tea — a moment to enjoy in everyday life, or to give as a gift.
Product overview
Product name: Tea Ticket
Contents: Organic sencha tea bag (1 bag, approx. 3 infusions)
Release date: July 16, 2026
Where to buy: Imamura Tea Plantation Online Shop
Price: ¥324 (tax included)
About Kagoshima Airport Building
Kagoshima Airport Building Co., Ltd. manages and operates the terminal buildings of Kagoshima Airport (domestic, international, and cargo). The company was established on December 5, 1969, ahead of the airport's opening in April 1972. Kagoshima Airport supports the comings and goings of many travelers as the hub airport of southern Kyushu and a gateway connecting Japan with the world.
About Imamura Tea Plantation
Imamura Tea Plantation, located in Kirishima, Kagoshima, grows and processes a wide variety of teas in the rich natural environment of the Kirishima mountain range. Across generations, we have produced Japanese green tea and black tea, pursuing the distinctive quality and flavor of leaves grown here in Kirishima. Kirishima tea has earned high praise for its quality and taste at events such as the National Tea Competition.
Company profile
Name: Imamura Tea Plantation LLC
Address: 655-15 Kareigawa, Hayato-cho, Kirishima, Kagoshima 899-5113, Japan
Website: https://www.imacha.jp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imacha_kirishima/
Read the press release on PR TIMES (Japanese)
Related: featured in the Minaminippon Shimbun (Japanese, membership required)
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