A Buddhist monk Eisai (1141～1215) brought back tea from China and spread the “tea culture” in Japan. It is said to be the beginning of “tea ceremony”.
Eisai, a founder of Rinzai sect of Zen in Japan, wrote the first book specialized on the topic of tea. It is called “Kissa-yojoki (A Note on Drinking Green Tea for Good Health)”
The book introduced the custom of drinking tea. Thus, he is known as the father of Japanese tea culture.
When Eisai was training in China as a Zen monk, drinking tea was a popular custom. He learned the medicinal effect and its remedy through drinking tea as a part of training. Later, he took large number of seedling and seeds with him back to Japan.
Eisai wrote “tea is the elixir of life and the magic key to longevity”, and he talked about the health benefits of tea; how to cultivate it, and how to prepare it, among other things.
He considered tea as the cure for all manner of diseases and the magic key to long life. Clearly, it is the recollection of the experience and the knowledge of tea he earned during his years in China.
The book helped spread a tea drinking culture in Japan and later with the help of another tea advocate, Sen-no-Rikyu, it has developed into the form we now call “tea ceremony”. It keeps adding layers of elements that appeal to us as it struggles to evolve yet into a new form.
Balancing tradition and innovation, the modern tea ceremony is very complex.
It can only be achieved and passed on to the next generation by day to day training.
Mat-Cha-Doh offers an authentic tea ceremony program guided by Mr. Doi, a tea master of the modern tea ceremony. He is also the owner of a long-established shop of Japanese tea.
Please check and see details： http://goo.gl/3I0QCC
Please check and see details： http://goo.gl/3I0QCC