A traditional Japanese garden provides a lush backdrop for a tea break in Hagi, on Honshu island.
No drink is more popular in Asia than tea. From Turkey to Taiwan, millions of people sip tea every day, for a caffeine boost, social break, medicinal treatment, or religious reason.
Tea comes from steeping in boiled water the leaf buds and young leaves of the tea plant, which was likely first grown in China as early as 2737 B.C. There are three main types of tea—China, Assam (from India), and Cambodia—and too many variations within those to count.
Today India exports the most tea, followed by China, Armenia, Sri Lanka, Japan, and others.
When tea first arrived in Japan around A.D. 800 it was used mainly for medicinal purposes before becoming popular as a drink. Zen Buddhism (also an import from China) flourished in Japan during the 13th century, and Zen monks relied on the stimulation of tea to carry them through long hours of meditation.
Around this time the tea ceremony also developed in Japan. Highly ritualized, strict rules dictated the making, serving, and even drinking of tea and promoted purity, harmony, respect, and tranquility. A tea master presided over the ceremony, usually held in simple but elegant rooms in tea houses around the country.
Even the fearsome Japanese samurai embraced the tea ceremony, some prizing their tea utensils as much as their swords.
