History of Tea

When sencha tea became available in the Edo period, it became available to the common people. Myoe Shonin (1173-1232), a Kegon sect monk, planted tea at Kozanji Temple in Toganoo, Kyoto, and encouraged tea cultivation. This is said to be the oldest tea plantation, and Toganoo tea was designated "honcha" (real tea) to distinguish it from other teas. From the end of the Kamakura period to the Nanboku-cho period, tea plantations centered around temples spread further from Kyoto, and tea began to be cultivated in Ise, Iga, Suruga, and Musashi as well.
During the Kamakura period, tea drinking spread to Zen temples and also spread among the samurai class as a social tool. Furthermore, during the Nanboku-cho period, "tea contests" were held in which participants would compare different types of tea and guess where it was produced.

Yoshimitsu Ashikaga (1358-1408) gave special patronage to Uji tea, which was continued by Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537-1598), and the Uji tea brand was formed. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Ohishita cultivation also began in Uji, and tea was processed into high-quality tencha.

In the second half of the 15th century, Murata Jukō (1423-1502) created the style of "wabi-cha," which was succeeded by Takeno Jōō (1502-1555) and Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), who perfected the " chanoyu " style and it became popular among wealthy merchants and samurai.

The tea ceremony was officially incorporated into the ceremonies of the Edo Shogunate and became an essential part of samurai society. Meanwhile, records from the Edo period show that tea as a beverage had spread among the general public as well. The tea consumed by the common people was not matcha, but tea made by boiling tea leaves that had been processed using a simple method.

Nagatani Soen, known as the father of Sencha, created "Nagatani-style Sencha" in 1738, and it is said that it amazed Edo citizens with its vivid color, sweetness, and aroma that were not found in tea made using the Chinese-style method up until then. The method created by Soen was called the " Uji method ," and it spread to tea plantations all over the country from the second half of the 18th century onwards, becoming the mainstream of Japanese tea. In an attempt to develop a more luxurious Sencha, an attempt was made to apply the Ohishita cultivation method used for Tencha to Sencha, and in 1835, Yamamoto Kahee created the method for making Gyokuro.

In 1858, the Edo Shogunate signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, and the following year, in 1859, taking advantage of the opening of the ports of Yokohama, Nagasaki, and Hakodate, exported 181 tons of Japanese tea.

Even after the Meiji Restoration, tea exports increased with government assistance, mainly to the United States, and accounted for 15-20% of total exports until 1887.
In the early Meiji period, collective tea plantations began to be established on flat land such as the Makinohara Plateau, as a result of programs such as the samurai employment program. However, the former samurai who developed the tea plantations gradually dispersed, and the tea plantations were taken over by farmers. The reasons for the departure of the former samurai included a significant drop in the export price of tea and the high cost of developing the tea plantations.

Tea in Modern Japan

Due to the popularity of Japanese food and growing health consciousness, Japanese tea is experiencing a global boom. Exports have tripled in the past decade, with a record 5,108 tons of Japanese tea being shipped overseas in 2019.