Uji

City in Kyoto prefecture, Honshu island, Japan; population (1995 est) 184,800. It is effectively a residential suburb of Kyoto. Industries include the manufacture of synthetic textiles and the production of the highest grade of Japanese green tea. The 11th-century Buddhist structure, the Byōdōin, is situated here.

Uji first developed in the 7th century at a crossing of the Uji River. Tea is reputed to have first been cultivated in Japan in the Uji area, and the high grade green tea is grown on alluvial soils near the river.