Cha no denpa refers to the history of tea's transmission from China to Japan: the first contact through Saicho and Kukai in the Heian period, the substantive transmission by Eisai in the Kamakura period, and the successive arrival of the whisked and steeped methods.
The decisive moment
Eisai's presentation of the *Kissa Yojoki* to Minamoto no Sanetomo in 1214 marks the turning point. Eisai brought tea seeds and the whisked method from Song China, creating the real starting point of Japanese tea culture.
Why the earlier contact does not count as the start
Tea reached Japan in the Heian period and did not take hold: it remained a curiosity associated with a small number of monks and courtiers, and the practice lapsed. What distinguishes Eisai's transmission is that the plant, the method, and a written argument for its use arrived together, and cultivation followed at Toganoo under Myoe.
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Related terms
- EisaiEisai
The monk (1141–1215) who brought tea seeds back from Song China and wrote Japan's first book on tea.
- Kissa YojokiKissa Yojoki
Eisai's treatise of 1214, the oldest Japanese book on tea, arguing for its medicinal effect.
- Song-dynasty teaSo no cha
Chinese tea culture of 960–1279, in which whisked powdered tea was established; the direct ancestor of matcha practice.