r-sensitive Americans, who, by the way, are said to be
the largest customers for Japan teas of other grades in the world.

This particular tea, which looks as harmless as our own importations
of the leaf, is a very insidious beverage, as an American lady
soon found out after taking some of it late at night. She declared,
after drinking a small cup before retiring, she did not close
her eyes in sleep for a week. We do not know the name of the brand
of tea, and are glad of it; for we live in a section where the
women are especially curious.

But the drink of the people at large in Japan is green tea,
although powdered tea is also used, but reserved for special
functions and ceremonial occasions. Tea, over there, is not
made by infusing the leaves with boiling water, as is the case
with us; but the boiling water is first carefully cooled in another
vessel to 176 degrees Fahrenheit. The leaves are also renewed
for every infusion. It would be crime against his August
Majesty, the Palate, to use the same leaves more than once--in
Japan. The preparation of good tea is regarded by the Japs as the
height of social art, and for that reason it is an important
element in the domestic, diplomatic, political, and general life
of the country.

Tea is the beverage--the masterpiece--of every meal, even if it
be nothing but boiled rice. Every artisan and laborer, going to
work, carries with him his rice-box of lacquered wood, a kettle,
a tea-caddy, a tea-pot, a cup, and his chop-sticks. Milk and
sugar are generally eschewed. The Japs and the Chinese never
indulge in either of these ingredients in tea; the use of which,
they claim, spoils the delicate aroma.

From the highest court circles down to the lowliest and poorest
of the Emperor's subjects, it is the custom in both Japan and
China to offer tea to every visitor upon his arrival. Not to do
this would be an unpardonable breach of national manners.
Even in the shops, the customer is regaled with a soothing cup
before the goods are displayed to him. This does not, however,
impose any obligation on the prospective purchaser, but it is,
nevertheless, a good stimulant to part with his money. This
appears to be a very ancient tradition in China and Japan--so
ancient that it is continued by the powers that be in Paradise and
Hades, according to a translation called "Strange Stories from
My Small Library," a classical Chinese work published in 1679.

The old domestic etiquette of Jap