After it was first introduced to Japan, a valuable kind of sencha was used that had been brought over by the Kento-shi (Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty China), but by the late ninth century, the zochashi (a person who manages a tea garden) at the Kurodo-dokoro (chamberlain's office) made tea from plants that had been grown in the tea garden of the Imperial Court.
初め煎茶は遣唐使によりもたらされた貴重なものが用いられたが、9世紀後半には宮中の内裏茶園で栽培され、蔵人所の造茶使が製造を行っている。