Okakura’s incredible examination of tea drinking and its influence upon Japanese religion, art, culture and social life is published here in full.

A committed enthusiast of tea, Kakuzo Okakura scoured his home nation for signs of how the drinking of tea influenced the various cultural artifices and aesthetic designs. The book is designed to introduce and explain to a Western audience how tea became and is important to the Japanese people and their way of life.

Okakura is sure to include and emphasise the religious aspects of tea drinking which are in part credited with the practice’s uptake throughout the country. The presence of the drink in Taoist and Buddhist shrines influenced the architecture and art throughout these buildings: there are many surviving paintings to this day which depict tea drinking in a ceremonial and social context.

Published in 1906, The Book of Tea is as relevant today as it ever was, providing as it does a historical overview of the Japanese culture. It is appreciated for its clarity of explanation, whereby each major aspect of tea drinking is discussed: the setting of the room; types of tea used; and the cultural contributions of the tea-masters.