HISTORY OF JAPANESE GREEN TEA:
The first mention of green tea in Japan dates to 729 A.D., when Emperor Shomu served it for Buddhist ceremonial purposes. It had been brought from China.
The second mention of green tea dates to the 12th century, when a Buddhist priest named Eisai brought tea seed from China. At that time, Japanese commoners suffered from many epidemic diseases brought on by starvation, wars, droughts, floods, etc. Eisai thought that tea could help ease their suffering. However, tea became the drink of the upper social classes, used both for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
Gradually, the use of tea spread to the Bushi (Samurai) and merchant classes, and finally to the common people. By the Edo period (17th-19th centuries) it became widely used by all levels of society and widely produced in many regions of Japan.
Following the Meiji restoration (mid-19th century), green tea became one of Japan’s most important export commodities. It was exported to Europe and to North America following its introduction at the Paris Expo in the 19th century.
The first mention of green tea in Japan dates to 729 A.D., when Emperor Shomu served it for Buddhist ceremonial purposes. It had been brought from China.
The second mention of green tea dates to the 12th century, when a Buddhist priest named Eisai brought tea seed from China. At that time, Japanese commoners suffered from many epidemic diseases brought on by starvation, wars, droughts, floods, etc. Eisai thought that tea could help ease their suffering. However, tea became the drink of the upper social classes, used both for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
Gradually, the use of tea spread to the Bushi (Samurai) and merchant classes, and finally to the common people. By the Edo period (17th-19th centuries) it became widely used by all levels of society and widely produced in many regions of Japan.
Following the Meiji restoration (mid-19th century), green tea became one of Japan’s most important export commodities. It was exported to Europe and to North America following its introduction at the Paris Expo in the 19th century.