“The Book of Tea” Kakuzo Okakura (1906) Review | Tea and philosophy

The Book of Tea
Kakuzo Okakura, 1906
128 pages
Read in 2022.06
check price on amazon.com


✔ Classic textbook of tea and Japanese culture for the West
✔ Philosophy from the East
✔ The most famous book on Japanese tea for the last 120 years


🔽 Review summary 🔽

★★★★☆  It is the most famous book on tea and Japan for the last 120 years. But it is much more, it’s about what is tea for Japanese people in a very philosophical way – delicate yet strong message to the West.


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

It is the most famous book on tea and Japan for the last 120 years or so.
But it is much more, it’s about what is tea for Japanese people in a very philosophical way – delicate yet strong message to the West.

This collection of writings were written for the West who looked down on Japan and the East.
It spends lot of time speaking about flowers and the sentiments around flower and it tries to communicate the Eastern aesthetics with the West, ending it with the death of the tea master.
It doesn’t necessarily teach you about the tea ceremonies etc, it’s more about the spirits of Japan via tea.
The afterword is also interesting.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Book of Tea Classic Edition

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
The Book of Tea: The Book of Oz (Penguin Little Black Classics)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Il libro del tè (Italiano)