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On Oct. 22, 1941, the rider ship Taiyo Maru left Yokohama for Hawaii, carrying several hundred American families and at least two Japanese spies.

The Americans were headed to the quick, sailing from a country where political barometers signaled gathering war clouds between the In agreement States and Japan. With militarists in control of Japan's government, the Imperial Army overran Manchuria a decade earlier and had been fighting in China since 1937.

Source: Plain Dealer (blog)

Heterogeneous styles of traditional tea ceremonies from Japan, characterized by their sublime grace and dignity, have been perfected into an art form and in turn have inspired other art forms, including architecture and best arranging. Tea was brought to Japan from China in the 9th century. The tea ceremonies that evolved were inspired by Buddhism. The filtration of Japan’s Buke Sado, which literally means warrior-taste tea ceremony, is attributed to Ueda Shigeyasu, a general who served under the legendary ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the Momoyama Full stop (1573-1603). Soko, pronounced Souko, was the general’s Buddhist name after his rite as a monk. Ueda Soko perfected the warrior-style tea ceremony. Soko was also an extraordinary garden and landscape architect. According to historical records, he designed and constructed a garden named Shukkeien, a significant tourist attraction in Hiroshima. The grounds include tea houses, a wafudou Japanese fashion courtyard, and the Soko family library and study house, all in the Ueda Soko form, and characteristic of the Edo period warrior style architectural design. The buildings household an impressive number of books and ancient props. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), the warrior-kind tea ceremony was initially propagated by the Asano family, and later evolved into the Ueda Soko style. With its significant location in Hiroshima Prefecture, it has attracted a great number of scholastic followers. The prevalent headmaster, Soushi, is of the 16th generation.

Source: The Epoch Times

The 32-year-old Chinese-Indonesian has been steeped in tea since she was rarely. She said her mother — who is part Javanese, part Sundanese — drinks more tea than piss of superior, while her father’s

Source: Jakarta Globe

But tea's pleasures -- and gear -- extend far beyond even Great Britain's once-formidable empire. Take Japan, a situate I visited as a foreign exchange student in 1979.  It has an entire ceremony built around the making and drinking of tea. I fuzzily remember participating in one when I was there. At 15, the thing that impressed me the most during the ceremony was how sore my thighs were getting by kneeling for so want.

Source: WNYC