---
title: 'Tea traditions of Japan and Korea'
url: 'https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea'
markdown: 'https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea.md'
lang: en
date: '2026-11-03'
description: 'Tea traditions of Japan and Korea: the chanoyu ceremony with matcha, senchado with leaf tea, the folk whisked furicha, and the Korean darye rite.'
---

# Tea traditions of Japan and Korea 茶の湯

Japan kept the whisked powdered tea of Song China and built the [chanoyu](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/chanoyu) ceremony on it. Koreans drink green leaf tea, and the [darye](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/darye) rite took its present form in the 20th century.

 ![A bowl of matcha with a whisk, a kyusu and a cup of green tea](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-40f0e118.webp) Illustration 

In China powdered tea gave way to leaf under the Ming, but in Japan it survived and became the basis of [chanoyu](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/chanoyu). The host makes two teas from [matcha](https://howtotea.me/brewing/methods/matcha), thick koicha and thin usucha, and serves them to guests in a [chawan](https://howtotea.me/teaware/by-region/japan-and-korea/chawan) bowl.

Leaf tea has its own ceremony in Japan too. In 1654 Chinese monks brought over the practice of steeping leaf tea in a small pot, and [senchado](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/senchado) grew out of it. In a few places from Toyama to Okinawa, [furicha](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/furicha) still survives: people boil coarse tea, beat it with a large bamboo whisk, and sometimes eat the foam with rice and beans.

Tea has been known in Korea since the 7th century, but today's [darye](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/darye) took shape between the 1960s and 1980s. It uses green leaf tea, brewed in a pot after the water has cooled in a separate bowl.

In this section

- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-64579084.webp) Chanoyu 茶の湯 Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony: from Eisai and Song China to Sen no Rikyu, the Sen schools, chaji and chakai, the tea room, garden and utensils. ](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/chanoyu)
- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-2a1d5a64.webp) Senchadō 煎茶道 Senchadō, the Japanese way of leaf tea: Ōbaku monks and Ingen, Baisao, the Kagetsuan and Ogawa schools, utensils, and how sencha and gyokuro are served. ](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/senchado)
- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-f2a03fa6.webp) Furicha 振り茶 Japan's folk whisked teas: batabata-cha, buku-buku-cha, bote-bote-cha. What goes in the bowl, how it is whisked, and why salt, beans and rice help it foam. ](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/furicha)
- [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-c2329255.webp) Darye 茶禮 Darye, Korean tea etiquette: Goryeo court tea, Joseon temples, the monk Choui, the 20th-century revival, brewing order, ujeon, sejak, Hadong and Boseong. ](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/darye)

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [Tea traditions](https://howtotea.me/traditions.md)
- Previous: [Tea traditions of China](https://howtotea.me/traditions/china.md)
- Next: [Tea in Europe and Russia](https://howtotea.me/traditions/europe-and-russia.md)
- Children:
  - [Chanoyu: the Japanese way of tea](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/chanoyu.md)
  - [Senchadō: the way of leaf tea](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/senchado.md)
  - [Furicha: Japan's folk whisked teas](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/furicha.md)
  - [Darye: the Korean way of tea](https://howtotea.me/traditions/japan-and-korea/darye.md)