What Is “Ichi-go Ichi-e” (一期一会)?

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Moment, Through a Bowl of Matcha

Life in New Zealand can feel familiar — the same morning coffee, the same roads, the same routine.

But if you look a little closer, no moment is ever exactly the same.

The light shifts.
The air feels different.
And so do you.

Even what seems repeated is quietly changing, every time.

A once-in-a-lifetime encounter

In Japan, there is a phrase: Ichi-go Ichi-e (一期一会).

It means “this moment happens only once.”

Even if you meet the same person again, in the same place, it will never be exactly the same.

Because everything has changed — even in small, almost unnoticeable ways.

That is why each moment is treated as something unique, something that cannot be repeated.

Where the idea comes from

This way of thinking is deeply connected to the spirit of tea, shaped by the tea master Sen no Rikyu (千利休 ).

Later, it was expressed in words by Ii Naosuke (井伊直弼), a samurai and tea practitioner, in his tea writing during the Edo period.

In tea gatherings, even when everything appears similar, no moment can ever be repeated.
That is why each occasion is approached as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Even the same matcha is never the same

This idea is not only for formal tea gatherings.
Even a simple bowl of matcha changes each time.

The temperature of the water, the way it’s whisked, the texture of the foam.
And something even more subtle — your own state of mind.
The same matcha, yet never exactly the same experience.

Not about slowing down — but about noticing

Ichi-go Ichi-e is not about slowing your life down.

It is about noticing that this moment will not come again.
Even in a busy day, this cup of matcha is already unique.

Not because it is made special, but because it will never exist in the same way again.

Our matcha, too, is Ichi-go Ichi-e

At More More Matcha, we don’t follow a fixed origin or cultivar.
Each year, we select first-harvest tea based on how that season’s leaves have developed.
Some years it may be a single origin, other years a blend.

What matters to us is not consistency for its own sake, but choosing what tastes right in that moment.
First harvest happens only once a year.
No two seasons are ever the same.
So we don’t try to standardise it.
We choose to respect it.

In that sense,
our matcha is also Ichi-go Ichi-e.

This cup, just as it is

This cup, this moment, will not come again in exactly the same way.
There is nothing you need to change.

Just as it is, it is already complete.

👉 Discover your matcha moment