 Tea
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Tea is a drink that is most famous in England among westerners, but
tea is one of the highest valued cultural items in Japan. The plant from
which we get tea was imported into Japan in 1191 by Eisai, a priest who
had brought the seeds back from China and cultivated them on temple land.
For years it was reserved for religious use. All kinds of tea, except
the herbal types, are produced from this plant.
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Black tea, green tea, etc., are all made from the leaves of one tea
plant. The processing technique, the season the leaves are harvested,
and which leaves are used, give us the different kinds of tea. The processes
were developed by the Japanese for their particular tastes. This is a
common practice of taking only the best and ignoring the rest by making
the best, better. That is a part of Japan that will impress everyone.
Pride and selectivity. Changes are Expedient Manifestation.
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There are many names for the different kinds of tea. Sencha, developed
around the middle of the 18th century and the most common type of green
tea in Japan, is about 90% of the crop. Sencha has an astringent flavor
much loved by the people, who drink it constantly. It is also good for
the health. Gyokuro, cultivated around the middle of the 19th century,
is a very high grade tea and is milder than sencha. Macha is powdered
green tea which is strong and used in the tea ceremony. Bancha is low
quality tea. There are others, but the above are the most familiar.
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Macha is the oldest type to exist in Japan. To prepare it for use, it
was ground in the traditional way among good tea shops, using stone mills.
It is rather bitter and not well-liked among foreign people, as a rule.
Drinking tea was not common among the people until this century when the
technology improved so it was economical enough, through mass production,
for the people to buy and enjoy it. Other types of tea were drunk, some
of which are still with us.
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The grains used for popular teas probably included wheat and oats. Mugi-cha
(oat tea) may have been the first national tea drink of Japan. Tea had
to be imported from China and the price was high. It was an imported product
for over 500 years and that is unbelievable in what we now know Japan
to be capable of.
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These days we can find tea plantations everywhere. They are small, but
it seems every farmer has one. The drinking of tea used to be reserved
for the nobles, elite persons and people of the temples, due to its cost.
The temples raised it, so they could drink it freely and their patrons,
rich and elite alike, could get it because they contributed much money
to the temples. The Way of Tea is still practiced by many young people
and others because it gives them peace of mind and a chance to meet friends
in a pleasant atmosphere.
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