The history of tea in Japan began in the early 9th century when a priest named Saicho transported the first batch of tea seeds from China to Japan in the year 805 A.D. Initially, the drink was designated for the religious class of society. Japanese priests and envoys would visit China regularly to study its culture and would return with the tea. The first documented type of tea was “Brick Tea,” imported from China and recorded in a reference by a Buddhist monk.
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Once Emperor Saga of Japan was introduced to tea, he imported tea seeds and popularized the drink among the royal class. Since that time, Japanese tea-drinking has become commonplace among all classes of society. Because tea has become popular around the world, the Japanese have been able to leverage their tea-making into a very lucrative industry.
The following story contains a simple moral lesson rooted in this Japanese culture.
