GOASIAPLUS March 2018

Tea Obsession
JAPAN
Blame it on Japan for making matcha fashionable. This
matcha mania grew from austere beginnings as a monk’s
drink for meditation to a mood-boosting superfood
today. Yet Japan still holds the hallmark of regarding tea
as an art form and a spiritual discipline.
Tea is readily available at high-end restaurants,
convenience stores and even through vending machines.
Its cultural significance is best demonstrated in a
formal Japanese tea ceremony, which is rooted in Zen
Buddhism. The act is aimed at the attainment of deep
spiritual satisfaction through the drinking of tea and
through silent contemplation. The ceremony can last
up to several hours and procedures vary according
to tea schools, seasons, time of day, venue and other
considerations.
Green tea predominates, the highest grade being
gyokuro, followed by sencha, the most common, and
bancha, a lower grade. Only the highest quality leaves
are used for matcha. Most of Japan's tea is harvested by
machines with Shizuoka being the leading tea growing
area, followed by Kagoshima.
Tea was first introduced to Japan from China in the 700s
and mainly used by priests and noblemen as medicine.
Later, Eisai, the founder of Japanese Zen Buddhism,
brought back from China the custom of making tea from
matcha and consumed only for religious purposes.
The Japanese tea ceremony includes
wagashi, a small sweet delicacy served
on a special piece of paper called
kaishi. Wooden sticks called kuromoji
are used to transfer wagashi from a
tray onto the kaishi paper.
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