History of Japanese Green Tea

Flower of the Cameria Sinensis plant

The Scientific name for the tea plant which green tea is made from is Cameria sinensis. It is in the Cameria family of plants. If left to its own devices, the tea plant produces wonderful attractive red or white flowers. Chinese discovered tea trees more than 2000 years ago. Chinese found that these trees could make a drink and made huge plantations. They created a good tasting drink. Green tea was introduced to Japan in approximately the 6th century and was thought to be used as medicine rather than a drink. By the 9th century it had become a drink that was very popular among the high society in Japan.

Zen priest Myoan Eisai

Japanese Priests, including Zen priest Myoan Eisai, who were sent to China to study its culture are thought to have brought back green tea and seeds with them. In the latter part of the 12th century, Myoan Eisai introduced a tea preparation method in which tea was ground into powder, poured into a bowl with hot water, and mixed together. He also later wrote the famous book "Kissa Yojoki (health benefits of Tea)" which detailed the health benefits one can receive when drinking green tea.

In the 13th century, the Samurai society were introduced to drinking green tea by the priests. They insisted that green tea had great health benefits, so it became very popular among the Samurai society. The Samurai invented a game called "To-cha" which was a game where Samurai tasted various green tea and had to guess which was the highest quality.

Statue of Sen No Rikyu

In the Muromachi period (1392-1573), Chanoyu or Chado (The Japanese tea ceremony) really flourished. It is during this period in which the aesthetics and etiquette begun to be formed and the cultural foundations of the tea ceremony were put into place.

Sen No Rikyu (1522-1591) is considered to be one of the most influential figures within the Chanoyu. He is well known for his teachings of the four fundamental qualities that should be exemplified in the tea ceremony. They are harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.

Tea that was used in the Chado was a grounded tea that is now known as matcha. Only a select few farmers were allowed to grow it and that which was cultivated was reserved for the high society. Ordinary people had no access to such teas. They mainly drunk "brown" tea similar to that of houjicha.

Souen Nagatani

In the 18th century a new way of making loose leaf tea was developed by Souen Nagatani. At that time ordinary people only had access to teas that were made similar to houjicha or kamairi style (withered and fired in pans) which was thought of as "brown" tea, but he successfully learnt how to steam, roll, and dry it. By using this new method the leaves retained their green color.

This new method quickly became very popular. Those that tasted it were overwhelmed by it because it had a sweet taste and a wonderful aroma. Souen Nagatani proceeded to teach other farmers his new found method. It started to spread nationwide and most ordinary people (even the poor) had access to green tea.

Statue of Riemon Tsuji

By the 19th century machines started to take the place of handmade green tea. This reduced the labour which was needed in the processing stage and increased the production efficiency. In 1835, a new green tea, cultivated using a special coverage technique, was discovered by the 6 generation of the Yamamoto family. It was later perfected by Riemon Tsuji in 1860, it was named gyokuro.

Up until the early 20th century Japanese green tea was naturally grown with great care & attention, with a huge admiration for the surrounding environment, and with a profound amount of knowledge and wisdom gained through generations of tea farming. This type of naturally grown product is what is known as "organic" in today's marketplace.

In the 1950's, there was a huge concept change and the whole Japanese green tea industry went through a massive upheaval as a wave of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and chemical agents were introduced from the western world onto the Japanese market which promised higher yields, more harvests in one year, reduced labor, and less necessity for expertise. Many farmers were taken in by this new concept, hundreds of years of knowledge and wisdom of growing tea naturally were disregarded, and for many a completely new way of cultivating green tea commenced.

Fortunately, for those who are wise enough to seek organically cultivated green tea, a minority of Japanese tea farmers continued farming in the traditional manner in the 1950’s, and now a growing number of present day Japanese tea farmers that have experienced the dangers of conventional tea farming first hand are beginning to back track to traditional ways of tea farming.

Therefore, today we can still enjoy the traditionally flavored high quality organic green teas of Japan which were and still are light, refreshing, and clean tasting.

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