7‑Eleven Uji matcha run

7‑Eleven Japan began rolling out two limited-time matcha smoothies this week, with the Uji version arriving first and sales staggered by region. (prtimes.jp) The chain said the Uji Matcha Smoothie went on sale April 21 at stores in Fukushima and the Kanto region, then expands April 28 to Hokkaido, most of Tohoku, Niigata and part of Tokai, May 5 to Kyushu, and May 12 to Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Okinawa. A second drink, Kaori Hirogaru Matcha Smoothie, starts April 28 in part of Tokai plus Nagano, Yamanashi and Hokuriku. (prtimes.jp) Both drinks are priced at 420.12 yen including tax, and 7‑Eleven said stores may vary on price and some locations will not carry them. The company is selling them through its Seven Cafe Smoothie program, which blends frozen ingredients in dedicated in-store machines rather than stocking a ready-to-drink bottle. (prtimes.jp) For the Uji drink, 7‑Eleven said it uses matcha from Kitagawa Hanbee Shoten, a Kyoto tea wholesaler founded in 1861 in Gion. The other version uses matcha from Marushichi Seicha of Fujieda, Shizuoka, which the company said began making matcha in 1998. (prtimes.jp) The split launch turns one convenience-store flavor into a map of tea prestige: Uji for Kyoto and a separate matcha line for other regions. 7‑Eleven tied the release to demand it saw at the Osaka-Kansai Expo and to what it called a broader matcha boom in Japan and overseas. (prtimes.jp) That Uji label carries travel value as well as food value. Uji sits south of Kyoto and can be reached from Kyoto in about 20 minutes by rapid train or about 30 minutes by local train on the JR Nara Line, making it an easy tea stop for day-trippers. (japan-guide.com) Uji’s tourism pitch is built around tea and heritage sites in the same compact area. Japan Guide lists Byodoin Temple, Ujigami Shrine and tea shops among the city’s main draws, reinforcing why brands keep using “Uji” as a shorthand for premium green tea rather than just another flavor name. (japan-guide.com) 7‑Eleven said the earlier matcha smoothie sold more than 1,000 cups a day across its two Expo stores in late July, and the company framed this spring’s return as a response to that demand. The drinks are back in convenience stores, but not all at once and not everywhere, which keeps the Uji version tied to timing, region and the store’s machine lineup. (prtimes.jp)