In a season when Japanese markets faltered, Ito En — the quiet steward of green tea culture — offered a different kind of signal: that patient operational reform and disciplined cost management can outrun the headwinds of rising raw materials and analyst skepticism. The beverage maker's fiscal first quarter revealed not just a profit beat, but a structural turning point, as a long-troubled vending machine division crossed into profitability and its flagship Oi Ocha brand found new audiences from Tokyo to the global stage. It is a reminder that enduring brands, when paired with operational clar