I hosted the Japanese American Society of Kentucky in my retail store on a Sunday morning in October where I gave a short lecture on Okakura Kakuzo and The Book of Tea. I ended my talk by telling my Japanese guests that I hoped very much to visit their country someday.Pay attention to what you…
Japanese Tea Exports at the Time of Okakura Kakuzo
Yokohama Tasting Room c.1890Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” opened the port of Yokohama in 1859 for the benefit of the United States whaling industry but, within a few years, Pennsylvania kerosene, rather than whale oil, was lighting American homes. The great hunting ships were idle and rotting in harbors across the eastern seaboard. Sailors who once…