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O-cha
Used to be a Luxury Item!? |
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O-cha is one of the most popular beverages in Japan. O-cha is Japanese tea, also known as green tea. Green tea has long been associated with Japanese culture, but it is said that the drink actually came from China about 1200 years ago (cha is ‘tea’ in Chinese, and the Japanese added the honorific prefix ‘o’). Tea drinking didn't become popular until the 12th century, when the upper class began to enjoy matcha, a high quality powdered green tea. During the 15th and 16th centuries, tea was closely associated with the clergy, and Zen Buddhism introduced cha-do, or tea ceremonies. However, drinking o-cha didn’t become popular among the masses until the 18th century, when a monk from China introduced a new way of drinking o-cha: pouring hot water directly on the leaves. Unlike cha-do, which whips matcha tea powder with a bamboo whisk until it foams, this new style of drinking tea was so simple, it helped popularize green tea. Nowadays, Zojirushi Electric Boilers & Warmers make it even easier to make tea because you can pour hot water any time at the touch of a button! I’m so lucky to be born in such a convenient era! Today o-cha is as popular as ever and sold in every vending machine and convenience store. |
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Proverbs
show how o-cha is popular in Japan |
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Many Japanese drink o-cha in the morning, just like Americans drink coffee. Many Japanese also drink o-cha at the end of each meal to relax. There are many proverbs using o-cha in the Japanese language. For example, Chabashira ga tatsu to engi ga yoi, means "it is auspicious when a tea stalk floats upright." When a stalk floats upright, you have to keep it to yourself or otherwise it won't bring you luck. I never get good luck because I boast to everybody when I see a stalk floating upright! Let me tell you one more proverb: Asacha wa sonohi no nan nogare, means "if you drink tea in the morning, you will have a trouble-free day." Now you know how o-cha has deep connections with the Japanese culture, right?
[to Part 2] |
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