Japanese dotaku tradition wanes as tea culture begins

1300

Early Kamakura-era Zen monks brought tea drinking and tea ceremony rudiments from Song China. The first tea gatherings with deliberate aesthetic choreography began to appear among samurai patrons in Kyoto, laying the groundwork for the chanoyu that would later flower under Ashikaga patronage. The rustic simplicity of these early gatherings stood in quiet contrast to the martial culture surrounding them.