Tea (茶, cha) is an important part of Japanese culture. It first appeared in the Nara period (710–794), introduced to the archipelago by ambassadors returning from China, but its real development came later, from the end of the 12th century, when its consumption spread to Zen temples, also following China's example; it was then powdered tea that was drunk after being beaten (called matcha today). In the Middle Ages, tea became a common drink for the elite, and in the 16th century, the art of the "tea ceremony" was formalized. It is now one of the most emblematic elements of Japanese culture, whose influence extends beyond the simple context of tea drinking. Tea-growing developed in the pre-modern era, particularly during the Edo period (1603–1868), when tea became a popular beverage consumed by all strata of society. New ways of processing and consuming tea leaves were developed, starting with sencha, a steamed oxidation-stopped brew that became the most common. Today a handful of prefectures share the cultivation of tea plantations (Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Mie), whose mostly mechanically picked leaves are used to produce green teas, primarily sencha, but also lesser-known varieties such as bancha, or more elaborate varieties like gyokuro. Certain terroirs have a long-standing reputation for producing quality teas, first and foremost Uji in the Kyoto Prefecture. With an annual production of around 80,000 tonnes, Japan is still not a major tea producer on a global scale, nor is it a major exporter or even importer, since it consumes most of its own production. Tea leaves are now mainly used to make tea drinks sold in plastic bottles, a fast-moving consumer product that has become popular in society in the 2010s and is available in many variants. From the mid-2000s onwards, tea consumption supplanted that of loose leaves, while at the same time, other beverages such as coffee and soft drinks have overtaken tea in Japanese household spending. Tea consumption is also being renewed by the development of new products and increased use of matcha tea powder in gastronomy. Tea has long enjoyed great importance in Japanese culture, which has adopted many elements of Chinese tea culture, but has also added its own, starting with the tea ceremony, which conquered the milieu of the medieval elites, then was promoted in modern times as one of the characteristic elements of traditional Japanese culture, and is presented as such on tourist sites and at diplomatic events. It has given rise to a specific aesthetic, concerning both the places where the ceremony is held and the objects used, which are the object of great attention both in their design and in their use, thus contributing to the "cult of the object" typical of Japanese aesthetics.
History of tea in Japan up to modern times
First steps Japan's first contact with tea is thought to have taken place during the Nara period (710–794), when Japan sent several diplomatic missions to Xi'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty. These early delegations brought back Chinese cultures and practices, as well as paintings, literature and other artifacts. The Chakyō shōsetsu records emperor Shōmu serving powdered tea to monks in 729, but the text is somewhat unreliable and may therefore contain errors.
In 804, Buddhist monks Kūkai and Saichō set off to study religion in China on a mission funded by the Heian-era government. The Shōryōshū mentions Kūkai drinking tea during his trip, before his return to Japan in 806. He is also the first to mention chanoyu (茶の湯), which would later refer to the Japanese tea ceremony. Back in Japan, at least one of the two monks brought tea tree seeds back home; popular belief has it that this was Saichō, although there is no evidence to confirm or deny this. The Kuikū Kokushi states that in 815, a Buddhist abbot served tea to Emperor Saga. This is the first attested mention of the use of tea in Japan. After tasting it, the emperor ordered the creation of five tea plantations near the capital. Emperor Saga was known for his sinophilia, which manifested itself in his passion for tea. A lover of Chinese poetry, he in turn wrote poems, many of which mentioned tea drinking. More recent texts from the Heian period indicate that tea was grown and consumed, in small quantities, by Buddhist monks for religious purposes. Nobility and the imperial family also drank tea. The practice, however, did not spread beyond these circles. In the three centuries following Emperor Saga's death, interest in Chinese culture declined in Japan, and tea consumption suffered. The books of the time, however, continued to mention tea for its medicinal and stimulating virtues, and there was occasional mention of a mixture of tea and milk, a practice that soon disappeared. The tea consumed at the time in Japan was certainly the tea brick (団茶, dancha), which was its most common form in China during the Tang dynasty. The first monograph on the subject of tea, Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea, was written a few decades before the arrival of Kūkai and Saichō. In it, Lu Yu describes the cooking and compression of tea into bricks, followed by the drinking process of grinding the brick into powder and mixing it with hot water until it froths. This may have inspired the powdered matcha that later emerged in Japan.
Eisai and the rise in popularity of tea
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