The Japanese tea ceremony is a culture that uses the content of tea to express Zen spirituality. So, it is about identity, about the religiosity, culture, and customs that the Japanese people have inherited so far.

I wanted to study tea culture, so I also read a specialized book called “Tea Around the World. In it, I learned about the background of tea cultures in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and other countries with tea cultures.

In many cases, I had the impression that the tea culture was based on the characteristics of the environment in that country or region and the physical involvement of the body in order to live there.



For example, black tea(Afternoon tea). Black tea (Afternoon tea) originated in England, but this was originally an aristocratic culture.

The culture for the aristocracy spread to the general public and spread throughout the world.

It is a way for everyone to communicate with each other and to fill our stomachs a little.

I love it, of course, but there, you can read and understand the British culture and history, but it does not embody any religiosity or “teachings” about England or being British.

There is an order to how we eat, but there is no “teaching” or meaning to any mannerism or gesture, for example.




In the case of the Japanese tea ceremony, however, there are “teachings” and meanings in every aspect of the ceremony, from the environment, such as the tea ceremony room and garden, to the costumes, such as kimonos, and each and every manner.

In other words, we can learn and express our Japanese identity from the manners and gestures from the beginning to the end.

This is why Japanese tea ceremony  is called the “road” of tea, and it is a culture that is learned along the long road of life.