THE STORIES ABOUT CULTURAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND KYUSHU

The introduction of tea to Japan and subsequent cultivation

Tea is said to have originated around 2700 B.C.E. in China. In Japan, monk-envoys studying in Tang China are said to have brought tea seeds back with them between the early 8th and late 12th centuries C.E.
The cultivation of tea in Japan began when Eisai, the founder of the Rinzai school of Buddhism, finished his ascetic training in Song China and returned to Japan with many scriptures and seeds he intended to use to grow tea as a medicinal plant. In 1191, about 800 years ago, he planted the seeds in the garden of Ryosenji Temple Iwakamibo in Higashisefuri village (current Yoshinogari town), Saga. This is believed to have been the first time tea was ever planted in Japan.

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