William Wayne Farris is professor emeritus of Japanese history at the University of Hawai'i, where he served for twelve years as the Sen Sōshitsu XV Distinguished Chair of Traditional Japanese History and Culture.

One of the strengths of this book is Farris’s ability to draw the reader’s attention to continuities across time while also highlighting the many changes that took place. As all good macro-histories do, Farris gives the reader some key moments of change to consider. . . . Another strength of the book is the new perspective it gives on some of the oft-repeated points in the story of tea in Japan. Indeed, this alone makes it a must-read for all those interested in Japanese tea history, including the many practitioners of chanoyu tea culture and the increasing number of people working in tea-related business, who all communicate general information about the origins and early development of tea in Japan to public audiences.

William Wayne Farris is professor emeritus of Japanese history at the University of Hawai'i, where he served for twelve years as the Sen Sōshitsu XV Distinguished Chair of Traditional Japanese History and Culture.

One of the strengths of this book is Farris’s ability to draw the reader’s attention to continuities across time while also highlighting the many changes that took place. As all good macro-histories do, Farris gives the reader some key moments of change to consider. . . . Another strength of the book is the new perspective it gives on some of the oft-repeated points in the story of tea in Japan. Indeed, this alone makes it a must-read for all those interested in Japanese tea history, including the many practitioners of chanoyu tea culture and the increasing number of people working in tea-related business, who all communicate general information about the origins and early development of tea in Japan to public audiences.

William Wayne Farris is professor emeritus of Japanese history at the University of Hawai'i, where he served for twelve years as the Sen Sōshitsu XV Distinguished Chair of Traditional Japanese History and Culture.

One of the strengths of this book is Farris’s ability to draw the reader’s attention to continuities across time while also highlighting the many changes that took place. As all good macro-histories do, Farris gives the reader some key moments of change to consider. . . . Another strength of the book is the new perspective it gives on some of the oft-repeated points in the story of tea in Japan. Indeed, this alone makes it a must-read for all those interested in Japanese tea history, including the many practitioners of chanoyu tea culture and the increasing number of people working in tea-related business, who all communicate general information about the origins and early development of tea in Japan to public audiences.