Abstract
Tea, the survivor of cultural assimilation and evolution, has been the most popular non-alcoholic drink among the Japanese for hundreds of years. The cultural habit of preparing and drinking powdered green tea has developed into a ritual known as the Japanese tea ceremony (Chanoyu), also called the way of tea (Chad?). It has gradually been given attention on the global stage. Scholars have researched Japanese tea culture in pre-modern Japan, yet the historical relationship between the samurai class and the tea ceremony has not been studied thoroughly. This presentation aims to provide an insight into the political and cultural intersections the warriors had with the tea ritual, and to analyze Japan’s initial contact with tea from the Nara Period to the late Tokugawa Period in pre-modern Japan. It focuses on exploring why and how the way of tea played a significant role to the samurai class, and in turn, how the samurai class helped elevate the way of tea to its current form. Thus, the samurai class’s political and cultural role had profound meaning on the transformation of the tea practice in pre-modern Japan.
