One thing that I am missing a lot when being away from Japan is maccha (抹茶). Maccha (can also be spelled matcha) is a kind of green tea, and it is 100 % organic, natural green tea leaves, that are made into this powder. I don't know much about maccha, but I do know that it is very healthy and it is truly on of the things that I will try as soon as I can when I go to Japan.
Many Japanese people drink green tea every day and if you have tried sushi in Japan, you know that maccha can be found in sushi places where it is enjoyed after the meal. Maybe the Japanese are so healthy and live so long because of green tea? We can't know for sure, but there are many health benefits, and many kinds of foods and drinks that contain maccha can be found throughout Japan.
This powder-like sorts of green tea is used in Japanese tea ceremonies as you can see in the link about green tea ceremony below. Maccha probably arrived around the 8th centrury from China, where they had stopped using it. But Japan began to use it, and since then it has been used to tea ceremonies and has survived and found it's way to survive the changing times.
Just to show you to what extend maccha is used in Japan, I've collected some pictures of mine to show you. You can get stuff like regular maccha powder for tea, maccha latte, maccha frappuchino, ice cream, and many kinds of candy. I didn't have a picture of the different kinds of green tea candy even though I have tried it. It probably doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm sure that you can find much more maccha flavored food and drinks that just this. Among regular green tea you can also find various cold drinks (kind of like ice tea).
I hope you enjoyed it. Post your questions or comments below, and let me know if you have tried other kinds of maccha- or green tea flavored stuff from Japan. :)
Sources
Green tea ceremony: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2041.html
History of maccha: http://www.domatcha.com/matcha/
