Japan has such a rich tea culture, equally characterized by tradition and innovation. It is the home to the Way of Tea, and its tea production processes are unique. Here is a snapshot. For more information, feel free to stop by our shop and look through the lovely volumes that we have on hand to read up about Japan’s incredible tea culture!
Japan’s long history with tea goes back before the 9th century, with Buddhist monks returning from pilgrimages to China. The monk Saichō, the acknowledged founder of Tendai Buddhism, is also famous for bringing tea back to Japan at the very beginning of the 9th century. But it is the monk Eisai, founder of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, who is credited with establishing the foundation for the great tea culture that grew in Japan, planting tea seeds and writing the book, Kissa Yōjōki (Drinking Tea for Health), at the beginning of the 13th century. Over the following centuries, tea became a vital part of diverse aspects of Japanese society: as a stimulant for meditation among monks, as a facet of the samurai lifestyle, and as a feature of the social life of Japanese nobles.
Skip to the 15th and 16th centuries, when Taken Doo and Sen no Rikyu, disciples of the monk Murata Shuko, exercised a profound influence on the development of chadō, or the Way of Tea. Sometimes identified, especially in Europe, with chanoyu, or the Japanese Tea Ceremony, the Way of Tea emphasizes beauty in simplicity, drawing on spiritual, ethical and aesthetic principles.
A period of isolation followed in Japan, lasting from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th, under the policy of sakoku, which strictly limited contact with other nations. During this time, Japanese artisans developed original methods for processing teas to produce the unique, savory character for which Japanese teas are renowned to this day.
The historical innovation that continues to characterize many Japanese green teas to this day is the use of steaming to stop oxidation in the harvested tea leaves. Heating the leaf, by stopping the oxidation process, preserves the color and fresh character of green teas. Chinese artisans – then and now – predominantly stop oxidization for green tea by heating the leaves in woks over fire, which often imparts a toasty flavor to the tea. By contrast, steaming typically preserves the savory flavors, often grassy and even reminiscent of kelp or seaweed, that Japanese teas are so famous for.
Other techniques are used to preserved the lustrous shade of the best Japanese green teas. For the famous gyokuro tea, farmers erect coverings to shade their leaves for at least twenty days at the end of the growing period, thereby stimulating the production of theanine, intensifying the color and flavor of the leaves. Shaded leaves are also used to make matcha, that extraordinary, powdered tea, which is not steeped and removed from the cup, but mixed with care into the drink and consumed.
Today, Japanese teas represent a remarkable combination of the old and the new. Japanese tea producers harvest tea leaves with state-of-the-art technologies for extremely fine teas, and the best teas will often be made from a mix of leaves from multiple gardens. These innovations require additional care and craft in the judgment and selection of leaves for the final product. We’ve exercised the same care to curate for you a dynamic mix of unique Japanese teas, made and selected with love.