Teas Of The World: Tea in Japan

Historians do not quite agree on when tea first arrived in Japan but the general view is that Japanese priests brought it back from China between the 6th and 9th Century. Very soon after this a Japanese priest planted a tea plant in 49 different Buddhist monasteries. It was rare and very expensive that meant that only aristocrats and high priests could afford to drink it.

Some years after the first arrival of tea a priest called Eisai wrote a book "Exposition on How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea." The book basically discuss all the various ways in which tea can help keep your body healthy, especially the heart. It also describes the ways in which tea should be grown and drunk. This is his most famous line: "Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one's life more full and complete."

The Japanese Tea Ceremony started to come about in the 15th Century. The ceremony was originally called cha-no-yu: hot water tea. Paintings, art and drama were all encouraged.

Then in the early 1500's the Japanese tea master Sen-no Rikyu opened the first tea house. This evolved the tea ceremony, called "The Way of Tea", into what it is today. Many Japanese family have a tea house at the end of their gardens for the tea ceremony. You wait outside the hut until you here the host inside ring the gong, then you enter a small room and wash. You then go into the small tearoom, in the centre their is a painting or flower arrangement. The host then prepares the tea and you share the tea while admiring the flowers or art. This is still a very practiced custom.

Green Tea would be the most popular tea in Japan. They have a special unfermented version. The leaves are first steam-pressed then rolled and dried.
This is a commercial in Japan for a brand of Green Tea: