Customer Reviews
Anyone for tea? - By: Andrew Woollock, 20 Apr 2006 
It's actuallly quite difficult to place this text. Is it a religious text? A novel? An extended poem? A diatribe? An instruction manual on 'cha no yuu'? Ironicallly (given the title) it is more of the former & less of the later.
Those seeking a book to 'explain' cha no yuu may well be disappointed, then again they may not. One truth about this book is this, that every person who has an in interest in Japan, Japanese culture & of course cha no yuu should adopt this book. Read it carefully & slowly (no more than a few pages a day). Highlight the important points & keep it as your constant companion.
I also recommend every Japanese national buy a copy to, find out where you started on the path, where you left off & got lost & try to use it as a map to get back to the Way. In that regard it is the Japanese who are dying of thirst & need to drink at the fountain of knowledge to quench their parched throats & fill their empty stomachs, which for so long have echoed hollow with the sound of emptiness.
If there are minus points to this text is it has to be Okakura's constant digressions in the early chapters, his stumblings, mumblings & banal pre-suppositions pertaining to the imperialist notions of 'Occidental' versus 'Oriental', but then what could one seriously expect from a text penned in 1906. Thankfully to correct these errs & bring the reader back to the path, Sen Soshitu XV takes the reins & provides an invaluable 'afterward' steering us back on course.
N.B. I recommend this bi-lingual version over others of the same text, for numerous reasons. The main one being that as a student of Japanese one can quickly clarify 'kanji', pronunciation or indeed any queries pertaining to the translation by simply checking the facing page - you're effectively getting two books for the one price. Besides that, on a minor point - the book contains some superbly atmospheric monochrome plates. Finallly, unlike European paperbacks, their Japanese counterparts are printed on quality stock - not that horrible grey pulp.
Beauty ritualized - By: paul.cortois@hiw.kuleuven.ac.be, 16 May 2002 This little booklet, written in 1906, is still one of the absolute classics on the Japanese tea ceremony. This essay about Japanese culture as it is epitomized in the "way of tea" (chadô) also served as an apology for Eastern traditions at large to the Western world. Okakura was a practitioner, art critic & connoisseur, & a collaborator of Fenellosa & his circle, who introduced Japanese art in the United States. Although detailed technical information about the ceremony is avoided, the latter's historical background as well as its relation to Japanese attitudes, Zen, Tao, art & art appreciation are treated in a suggestive & essayistic vein. The way of tea appears as a "moral geometry" embodying particular values than a particular set of beliefs. There is, thus, a "philosophy of tea", at least in the sense that the practice of tea wholly constitutes a "form of life".
The book was written in a graceful, clear & precise English, which is in itself a remarkable feat.
Amateurs of the way of tea should combine this reading with more detailed studies such as Sadler's, Shositsu Sen's & Horst Hammitzsch's, or the academic & up to date study by Jennifer Anderson.
An inexpensive, high quality edition of a classic. - By: , 23 Aug 1998 
For anyone interested in Asian, & particularly Japanese, culture, this book is a must. By following the history of tea & its role in the spiritual & cultural development of Japan, this slim volume gives the reader remarkable insight into the Japanese mind. Written with a keen sense of humor, the Book of Tea is very readable & entertaining, while at the same time illustrating the Japanese passion for the simple. This version is a quality translation, & you cannot beat the price. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Japan, Buddhism, Taoism, or tea.
