I love Japanese culture. I am also an anime fan so I had lot of affiliation with Japan.
In Japan, tea ceremonies are a formal and sacred activity. There are rules to be adhered. The ceremony and especially the making of the matcha tea is traditionally carried out in silence. The Japanese way of tea is rigidly structured and you can see the relation to Zen Buddhism.
Yes Japanese are very traditional type of peoples and about tea or anything they eat they are pretty formal with it !! Personally I love green tea as I am a biological scientist I know great deal of benefits of green tea its amazingly useful while being so great in taste .. :)
You went to japan you must have heard "Arigato Gozaimus" haha.
Yup, the women in Japan say Arigatogozaimasu (ありがと ございます) all the time. The men kind of mumble the phrase.