The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuz- (1906) is a long essay linking the role of chad- (teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English tea classics. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuz- argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. In the book, Kakuz- states that Teaism, in itself, is one of the profound universal remedies that two parties could sit down to. Kakuz- went on to mention that tea has been the subject of many historical events, such as peace treaties and the like. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Riky- and his contribution to the Japanese tea ceremony. According to Tomonobu Imamichi, Heidegger's concept of Dasein in Sein und Zeit was inspired - although Heidegger remained silent on this - by Okakura Kakuz-'s concept of das-in-der-Welt-sein (being-in-the-worldness) expressed in The Book of Tea to describe Zhuangzi's philosophy, which Imamichi's professor Ito Kichinosuke had offered to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed private lessons with him the year before.

Okakura Kakuz- (February 14, 1862 - September 2, 1913) (also known as -- -- Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan. Outside Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea Born in Yokohama to parents originally from Fukui, Okakura learned English while attending a school operated by Christian missionary, Dr. Curtis Hepburn. At 15, he entered Tokyo Imperial University, where he first met and studied under Harvard-educated professor Ernest Fenollosa. In 1889, Okakura co-founded the periodical Kokka.[2] In 1887[3] he was one of the principal founders of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts( T-ky- Bijutsu Gakk-), and a year later became its head, although he was later ousted from the school in an administrative struggle. Later, he also founded the Japan Art Institute with Hashimoto Gah- and Yokoyama Taikan. He was invited by William Sturgis Bigelow to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1904 and became the first head of the Asian art division in 1910. Okakura was a high-profile urbanite who had an international sense of self. In the Meiji period he was the first dean of the Tokyo Fine Arts School (later merged with the Tokyo Music School to form the current Tokyo University of the Arts). He wrote all of his main works in English. Okakura researched Japan's traditional art and traveled to Europe, the United States, China and India. He emphasised the importance to the modern world of Asian culture, attempting to bring its influence to realms of art and literature that, in his day, were largely dominated by Western culture.[4]