🍵 Did you know the story of tea in Japan stretches all the way back to the Nara and Heian periods (710-1192)? It’s believed that tea first arrived in Japan with envoys to Tang China and Japanese students studying abroad, as Japan eagerly adopted advanced Chinese systems and culture.

📜 Fast forward to the early Heian period (815), and the Nihon Koki (Later Chronicle of Japan) records that the high-ranking Buddhist monk Eichu offered tea brewed at Bonshaku-ji Temple in Omi Province to Emperor Saga. This is considered the earliest written account of tea drinking in our country!

👑 Back then, tea was incredibly precious, a luxury enjoyed only by a select few – mainly Buddhist monks and the aristocratic class. Interestingly, the tea preparation method during this time was likely 餅茶 (mocha), a type of compressed tea cake described in the Chinese Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea).

Imagine the rarity and reverence surrounding that first cup! 🍃