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Elixir of Eternal Life Or Libation to Ethnic Spirits: the Meanings of in Yuko Minowa, Long Island University

The present paper explores the cultural meanings of Japanese tea and its consumption rite to Japanese consumers. Anthropologists contend meals serve as statements about society, issues, class, or other things that are considered significant in the culture. Nevertheless, relatively few studies in consumer research have investigated food and beverage as a metaphor of culture and self identities of the social groups. Based on the interpretive study, we find Japanese tea serve as a metaphor for Japanese culture: collective self, nature and nostalgic past, and irreplaceable part of life that is analogous to rice.

[to cite]: Yuko Minowa (2005) ,"Elixir of Eternal Life Or Libation to Ethnic Spirits: the Meanings of Tea in Japan", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 7, eds. Karin M. Ekstrom and Helene Brembeck, Goteborg, Sweden : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 262-267.

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[copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. Elixir of Eternal Life or Libation to Ethnic Spirits: The Meanings of Tea in Japan Yuko Minowa, Long Island University–Brooklyn Campus, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT serve as statements about society, issues, class, or other things that The present paper explores the cultural meanings of Japanese are considered significant in the culture (Ashkenazi 1990). Never- tea and its consumption rite to Japanese consumers. Anthropolo- theless, relatively few studies in consumer research have investi- gists contend meals serve as statements about society, issues, class, gated food and beverage as a metaphor of culture and self identities or other things that are considered significant in the culture. of the social groups (Roberts and Micken 1996, Gould 1998). Nevertheless, relatively few studies in consumer research have The present paper thus explores the meanings of Japanese tea investigated food and beverage as a metaphor of culture and self and its consumption rite to Japanese consumers to overcome the identities of the social groups. Based on the interpretive study, we above-mentioned shortcoming. we discuss in the paper are not find that Japanese tea, analogous to rice, is considered irreplaceable meant to be exclusively powdered . Nor does the ritual in daily consumption ritual. Being perceived as an agent of catharsis mean elaborate . Rather we use the term, Japanese tea, by many, it serves as a metaphor for Japanese culture, collective to mean teas that consumers drink on a day-to-day basis; they can self, and nature. be any variety and variation of green teas, barley teas, stem teas, or herbal teas that are native to Japan. While the traditional tea A monk sips morning tea, ceremony attracts much attention of scholars from diverse disci- It’s quiet, plines in art and social sciences because of its unique characteristics the chrysanthemum is flowering. in terms of manners, rigidly prescribed procedures, and Zen spiri- tuality of participants, it is a highly specialized field of pursuit and - Matsuo, Basho (1691) it is far apart from the daily life of Japanese consumers today. On the other hand, green tea brewed in a pot continues to be the It was an autumn day. The haiku poet Basho saw the monk’s preferred beverage of many. In this study, we are interested in very ordinary consumption ritual of having morning tea. His investigating the symbolic meanings of such an ordinary staple travelogue reveals that he was visiting the Zuishoji Temple in the beverage as tea. remote town in Shiga Prefecture. Facing the Zen garden, the chief priest sat down on the tatami straw mattress and had a cup of tea. TEA CONSUMPTION IN JAPAN TODAY Unintended, his gaze met a flower of chrysanthemum. Instantly the The most common type of tea is sen-cha, green tea, which is world of quietude was filled with the monk’s personal visual and available in various forms and grades. It is a simple yet paradoxi- olfactory experience. The sip of tea consummated his sensual cally complex beverage. Specialty tea shops and supermarkets pleasure while it united him with nature and the cosmos. In the carry a large variety of tea products. The grade of sen-cha ranges moment of timelessness and nothingness, he intensely experienced from high quality (jeweled tea) to the rough, leafy that the self was merely part of the harmonious whole, through the (coarse tea). Between these two extremes, there are varying grades consumption of tea. The observant poet, albeit unspoken, had an of . Deeply steamed fukamushi sencha can taste reasonable empathy with the monk’s experience; they shared the meaning of with any type of water, or even with boiling water. Variations to the tea cult. plain sencha green tea include hojicha (roasted tea) and Today, drinking tea is, as it was in the time of Basho in the 17th (a mixture of toasted whole rice and roasted bancha). Brownish in century, an everyday consumption ritual of the Japanese. The color, hojicha has a strong, sweet flavor. In recent years kukicha debate on the origin of tea, whether it is indigenous to Japan (stem tea) has gained special attention as it provides the same (Kubokawa 1991) or originated in Yunnan China (Anderson 1991) nutritional efficacy as leafy green tea without . Mugi-cha, and brought to Japan by repatriate envoys Kukai and Saicho from or , is consumed cold and is a popular drink during the Tang Dynasty in the early ninth century, is in the stream of summer. Traditionally when preparing these green teas, a tea pot is controversy. Regardless of the genesis and historicity, across the used to brew the tea in each use occasion. In the last couple of bright green surface of this ordinary beverage one can see the whole decades, they have become available in canned and bottled. of Japan: “Tea is such a particular beverage in Japan that the Chinese teas, particularly tea, are also popular in drinking of it came to be a way of life” (Castile 1971). While foreign Japan. It first became popular as a diet drink in the 70’s as its products such as , juice, soda, and flavored and “enhanced” efficacy for decomposing body fat was claimed in the media. waters have inundated the domestic market in recent years, tea Similar to barley tea, it is cooled and consumed during the summer. occupies a unique position apart from the rest of beverages in the Canned and bottled oolong tea is widely available through vending mind of Japanese consumers even today. Consuming tea signifies machines as well. On the other hand, fermented pu-er teas gained the fundamental and central part of consumption experience of the popularity in more recent years. It was first positioned as authentic Japanese, particularly from the anthropological point of view: Two and gourmet from Yunnang province in the southwest of the most basic corporeal functions and ritualized consumption of China. As Japanese consumers encountered “the age of satia- are eating and drinking. A popular saying goes, “Tell me what you tion” (hoshoku no jidai) with abundant food choices during the eat, and I will tell you who you are” (Braudel 1973, p. 66), which height of the bubble economy, it became affordable for middle- is similar to a Hindu proverb, “A man is what he eats” (Parry 1985, class mass nouveau riche to become gourmet and connoisseurs of p. 613). In past and present societies, beverage as well as food various things and matters including Chinese teas. After the burst consumption manifests in tapestries of woven and myriad struc- of the bubble economy, its dietary benefits, superior to oolong, have tures ranging from highly public social practices to private forms of been emphasized. Because of its strong taste, it is mixed with other succor or devotion (Levy-Strauss 1969). Indeed food and beverage teas when it is sold in bottled packages. in a given society carry loads of meanings, and they are important There are three criteria consumers use to evaluate the grades as a symbolic system (Loveday and Chiba 1985). Meals thus may and quality of teas: taste, aroma, and color. Some are sweeter 262 European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 7, © 2006 European Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 7) / 263 (which does not mean sugary) and others are more astringent. Some tion as a personal, daily ritual, 2) tea and commensality, 3) legiti- are rich and others are refreshing. Type and quality of the water to and illegitimate tea, 4) teas as selves and “others”, and 5) tea be used in brewing tea, the temperature of the water, and, some as a metaphor of nature and nostalgic past. claim, the material of the tea pot affect the taste of tea. The right temperature of the hot water varies depending on the type of tea. The Roles of Tea in Daily Consumption Ritual more expensive the tea is, such as gyokuro, the longer the time for Despite its erroneous association with primitive and regres- brewing the tea at lower temperature should be. Before brewing tea, sive behavior originated from anthropological studies with indig- the boiling water may be poured into a yuzamashi, a bowl with a lip enous people in tribal societies (e.g., Turner 1969), ritual is con- and a handle, which is used to cool water to a suitable temperature. ducted under diverse circumstances. Typically, rituals involve a However, whether or not to follow these processes depends on the state or condition characterized by the presence of established individuals, and the results from the interviews in this study provide procedure or routine. Unlike habits, ritual behaviors involve posi- some insight into the setting as well as the situation of the tea tive and meaningful aspects of everyday and extraordinary human consumption. In the following methodology section, we discuss the experience. Another aspect of ritual is that it consists of two operationalization of the inquiry. dimensions: “the structure that characterizes ritual behavior and the qualitative components that distinguish ritual from similar behav- METHODOLOGY ior modes” (Rook 1985, p. 252). In this regard, drinking tea, not to The primary purpose of this study is to uncover and expose the mention all the other instances of food consumption, may manifest meanings of tea and its consumption. In the post modern inquiry, as a consumption ritual. Although drinking tea is a much simpler act social phenomena are interpreted holistically rather than linearly or of consumption than performing an age-honored, rigidly scripted epigenetically (Thompson et al. 1989). In this vain, our strategy is tea ceremony, it can manifest as personally meaningful ritual to glean multiple voices of consumers, and interpret multifaceted experience well beyond a utilitarian mode of behavior: quenching consumers’ feelings and opinions about the consumption. As such, one’s thirst to satisfy physiological need. the interpretive paradigm of research framework was considered Japanese tea, for many, is an intimate, quasi staple dietary appropriate for the methodology (Arnould and Wallendorf 1994). item. The universality of this sentiment in the aggregate level is It allows us to understand various aspects of an “elusive, allusive, reflected in the language: there is an idiomatic expression, nichijou- and illusive whole” of Japanese consumers’ experiences with tea sahanji, which literally means daily tea-and-rice matters. The consumption. To implement this emic approach, we conducted phrase should better translate as ordinary, daily routine, although structured and semi-structured personal and group interviews with the consumption of tea, like that of rice, is not an unconscious six male and twenty-two female native Japanese consumers. These mindless daily routine, but an everyday recurring ritual. The univer- informants varied in age, ranging between 23 and 84, with the salistic consumption ideology is augmented with individuals’ par- median age of 35. Seventy-five percent of them reside in the greater ticularistic valuation of the tea consumption. Informants in the Metropolitan Tokyo area: The remainder lives in Kyushu Island present study discussed the meanings of tea by using an analogy and and New York. Most of these people described themselves as comparing it with rice: They described tea as part of life and deemed regular tea drinkers, not heavy or light, although the definition of it irreplaceable. One male informant (75), who on average drinks “regular tea drinker” seems to vary depending on the individual. two quarts of green tea a day, compared it with air and water, Personal interview sessions were conducted in individual infor- fundamental natural components of human survival. A female (37) mants’ homes or the cafeteria of their workplace. Each in-depth claimed that she felt “incomplete” without tea. Not only is it a staple interview lasted between 30 and 60 minutes. In order to elicit their beverage, but it is also a beverage par excellence. Others noted that olfactory and palate sensations, these informants were asked to “green tea is closest beverage to [him], most intimate and most have a cup of Japanese tea and drink it during the interview. Each natural drink in [his] life” (male 31) and “tea is the king of all drinks” session was videotaped, which was later transcribed and translated (male 48). Many agreed that tea is absolutely necessary in order to into English, and field notes were taken to record unspoken silent sustain the Japanese dietary culture. A female (40) noted that her messages and body language that would not be easily decoded with family likes to complete (shimeru) with tea. the mechanical device. On the other hand, group interviews were Others compared the experience of consuming tea with daily conducted in a group of 2 to 3 informants, instead of a larger focus personal grooming routines such as washing their face in the group that would typically consist of 6 to 12 informants. This was morning and taking a deep breath. due to convenience. Two groups consisted of consumers of older Evidently, positive feelings and cultural meanings seem to be age, over 70. One group consisted of consumers in their mid-30s. attached to the consumption of teas. Japanese tea, however, beyond The remaining groups were comprised of white-collar office work- its propinquity to the Japanese consumer’s dietary lives, occupies ers of a major Japanese automobile manufacturer. These informants a more important part of their psyche: Teas are perceived to produce were solicited to participate in the interview session on a volunteer mystical efficacy, such as to cleanse one’s body, tone one’s mind, basis. These interview sessions took place mostly during the lunch and regulate physiological system and psychological state. A break in the conference room of the company. They were moder- female (73), for instance, believes that it supports her life. When ated by a Japanese correspondent who had been trained to admin- consuming tea, she feels good and refreshed throughout her body, ister the interview, moderate group discussions, and probe ques- not only in her throat or organs, but also in every corner and tip of tions. Each session was audiotaped, which was transcribed and her body. She feels that it is her body that wants tea. Emic translated into English. descriptions, including hers, make etymological reference to misogi, the Shintoist purification rite, a ritual that exists in various religions. THE MEANINGS OF JAPANESE TEAS In this regard, consuming Japanese teas can be compared with Narratives of the informants revealed that a seemingly non- ritual-based communal religion, rather than dogmatic individual descriptive simple nondurable product, tea and its consumption faith, and teas with the artifact to carry out the religious rite, possess intricate, multi-faceted dimensions. Several themes emerged although in reality it is that plays such a role and is used as from the narratives of our informants. These are: 1) tea consump- libation in Shintoism. 264 / Elixir of Eternal Life or Libation to Ethnic Spirits: The Meanings of Tea in Japan Another aspect of tea consumption analogous to religious brown. So it was probably barley tea and not green tea. Maybe ritual is the importance attached to the efficacy of ritual process because of the air raid, when tea cups were taken from the cabinet, rather than that of the object per se. In discussing ritual as one of the they were sometimes broken or chipped on the edge, and we used properties of sacredness, Belk, Wallendorf and Sherry (1989, p. 7) a cut bamboo tree to replace the ceramic tea cup.” postulate “rituals are often performed without deliberate thought to This male informant provided the most detailed episode from the rationale that guides them. They are functional through their the long past. There was a general pattern in responses: Informants performance, apart from their content.” In medieval times, samurai recalled the commensal event with nostalgia-laden memory of what warriors set a time aside to make tea. It was considered to serve as is in void today: the traditional extended-family structure, the close- time of meditation to regulate their feelings. Our informants also knit communal and inclusive human relationship, carefree child- mentioned that it is the entire process of making and consuming tea, hood, deceased siblings and acquaintances, demolished structures rather than tea itself, that functions to regulate and tone their mind. and the lost nature, traveling peddlers from remote regions and For instance, one female (40) who noted that “tea occupies a very deliverers from neighborhood businesses who spontaneously joined important part of daily life, both physically and mentally” ex- tea time, herbs and plants substituted in place of tea during the plained that she felt relieved when going through the routine of wartime, pickles that accompanied tea in place of confectionary brewing and drinking tea. Some other informants agreed that “it is during the poverty, and tea cups made from cut bamboo and other the process, the simple mindless routine task” that calms them down materials than ceramic or porcelain. Tea in fact seems to function and relaxes them. Some consumers called tea “a mood alternator,” as a metonym that evokes a bundle of meaning associated with the “a sedative,” and the consumption experience as “therapeutic,” “a bygone, traditional commensal occasions. turning point in daily life,” and a “punctuation mark in the temporal space.” Honmono and Jadou: Legitimate and Illegitimate Tea The simplest form of contemporary is the canned Tea and Commensality and bottled beverage available in hot or cold from jid? hanbaiki Another ritualistic aspect of tea consumption is that it can be (automatic vending machines) or konbini (convenience stores). consumed with others and create shared consumption experiences. Vending machines in Japan offer stupendous variety. According to In all societies, sharing food (and drink) is a way of establishing Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, in 2003, there propinquity, while, conversely, the refusal to share is one of the were 5.5 million vending machines in the market place of which 2.6 clearest marks of enmity (Farb and Armelagos 1980). Commensality, million sold cans and bottles of beverage items, including coffee, the action of eating and drinking together, is thus one of the most , Japanese tea, Chinese tea, , fruit juice, mineral powerful operators of the social process. It has been of perennial water, energy-boost drink, milk and flavored dairy drink, sake, and interest among both anthropologists and psychologists (Miller, beer. Approximately 1 million machines exclusively carried prod- Fiske, and Rozin 1998), and both structural functionalists and ucts of Coca-Cola Japan which sold 8 brands of tea products. Only structuralists have long pointed out its significance. In consumer one out of those eight is traditional Japanese green tea, and others research, commensality was studied in the context of holidays, consisted of Western-style black tea, hybrid herbal tea, oolong tea, parties, and other personal events which involve the sharing of food, barley tea, and . For another instance, the tea specialty such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. For example, Wallendorf and manufacturer Itoen sells various types and grades of Japanese tea in Arnould’s (1991) study of Thanksgiving demonstrates that the cans and bottles, including gyokuro, hoji-cha, genmai-cha, regular interactive commensal process contributes to negotiating and re- sen-cha, -cha (buckwheat tea), imo-cha (taro tea), oolong-cha, newing the consumer ideology and praxis of the ritual. Belk, and jasmine tea. These modern, processed beverages are, because Wallendorf, and Sherry (1989) discuss the sacredness of of their convenience, usually consumed while away from home. commensality, a symbol of life, for families and friends at special Consumers in general regard them as “soft drink.” holiday occasions. As in gift giving, symbolic consumption in The modern invention caused sacrilege of authentic Japanese participatory rituals is used to build and rebuild the self to oneself tea. Proliferation of processed tea products has begotten the sacred and others, and the relationship among participants (Sherry 1983; and profane duality in tea and tea consumption. The two consump- Gainer 1995). Some of our informants also mentioned tea time as tion phenomena are not totally disparate and dichotomous but seem an event to reify and strengthen family bonds. to exist somewhat ubiquitously with varying degree of sacredness On the other hand, interviews conducted for this study sug- depending on the level of individual consumers’ “commitment” to gested that commensal events are registered in consumers’ memory authentic Japanese tea. According to Durkheim (see Belk et al. with stronger impact than lone food occasions. When questioned 1989), the sacred would lose its nature when it is mixed with the about the most memorable tea consumption experience, infor- profane, and its essential attributes are destroyed. Such a view was mants’ episodes almost always included spending tea time with shared by our informants who valued Japanese traditions more others. In these episodes, consumption of tea was often associated preciously than others. For example, one female (60) angrily with their memory of pastime with family, the most basic unit of doomed modern tea products “jadou” (improper or illegitimate) Japanese society. The collective self of family is constructed and totally dismissed its worthiness as Japanese tea. These jadou tea through the sharing of tea time. For example, a male (75), when products included flavored teas, such as mango-green tea and asked to recall the most memorable experience related to tea Japanese tea in the form of tea packs produced and marketed by consumption, described his childhood during the war: “I remember non-Japanese companies. drinking tea during the war time. There were many people in the Most of our informants, however, evaluated pros and cons of house I grew up…There were constantly visitors, some were the innovation ambivalently: To them, the invention of canned and neighbors and others were traveling merchants, such as medicine bottled Japanese tea signaled a destruction of the culture since tea salesmen coming from Toyama Prefecture. We sat around a large symbolizes something traditional. Thus selling it canned from the table, rippling and laughing, creating discordant hullabaloo. And vending machine indicated the deplorable modernization of the everybody had a cup of tea. I don’t remember what kind of tea we traditional culture. Nevertheless, the availability and easy-access to had during the war. I vaguely remember that the color of the tea was a sugar-free drink pleased many of them at the same time. The European Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 7) / 265 benefit seemed to outweigh the detrimental aspect of the commer- processed than Chinese tea … It is my impression that Japanese cialization of Japanese culture. It matched the lifestyle and orienta- tend to pay close attention to a small distinction between the best tion of younger generations, as one female (34) said that “bottled tea and good, and new and old. Japanese consider precision to be an allows [her] to play with [her] feeling, to be carefree and casual.” A important dimension of product quality.” Delicate things make male informant (43) likes to bring a bottled cold tea when he goes consumers feel enriched and warm because they convey sincerity to wind surfing, as “it goes well with [his] leisurely feeling.” Or, and earnestness of the maker. simply, one female (48) considers it suitable for gulping to quench Japanese consumers’ belief about tea as a totemic of the self thirst. These consumers seem to be hedonic pleasure seekers who extends to their perception of the role of Japanese tea in the act on their feeling. international arena. They perceive that non-Japanese people con- Consumers do not necessarily regard unauthentic Japanese tea sider Japanese tea, particularly green tea, as the typical, authentic, and new-age fusion teas as evil or calamitous, but are in agreement beverage of the nation, and they use tea as a cultural agent to unite in that innovative ideas for new product development add a variety and strengthen the intercultural personal relationship. For instance, in the marketplace. They clearly distinguish the symbolic meaning a female consumer (60) serves her non-Japanese guests a cup of of such exotic teas from the authentic Japanese tea, as one female green tea because she believes that they expect her to do so. claimed “it can be used for certain occasions, such as when you have Moreover, she senses that many non-Japanese people think that tea some sweets with friends… but it will not be part of my life, like means only green tea to Japanese. However, when I visited her authentic Japanese green tea is for me.” Another female (40) home for the interview, she insisted that I try her, as she put it, admitted that, “in this age of California rolls, we may lose tradition, “famous homemade cappuccino,” despite my counterproposal for but we can’t prevent the change… as traditions change throughout green tea. On the other hand, she made a cup of green tea for herself. the history. We just have to accept that fact and embrace the creation Only after I finished the cappuccino, she brought a cup of green tea of new traditions.” for me, which was placed on the traditional wooden chataku (wooden coaster). Teas as Selves and “Others” Japanese tea is a metaphor of the collective self of the Japa- Tea as a Metaphor of Nature and Nostalgic Past nese. Ethnic identity helps enhance one’s self identity while it A critical dimension of tea symbolism is that tea leaves, trees, separates the collective self from “others.” The loss of Japanese tea and plantation, along with rice paddies, collectively represent would be troublesome because, as one of the informants said “[she] Japan’s nature, agriculture, land, and people. Despite today’s would not be [herself] without green tea”: Green tea is a fundamen- alluring image as a technologically advanced nation, the primary tal core thing on which people rely for national identity. Belk (1988, industry of Japan had always been rice farming agriculture through- p.152) posits that “the possessions central to self may be visualized out history. The mindset of the nation even today is agrarian and in concentric layers around the core self… However, there is insular in principle, and it manifests, despite their struggle to be another sense in which the individual has a hierarchical arrange- cosmopolitan, in their overt collectivistic and covert xenophobic ment of levels of self, because we exist not only as individuals, but attitudes and behaviors. Only after the Korean Conflict erupted in also as collectivities. We often define family, group, subculture, 1950, did the nation experience a drastic change in the industrial nation, and human selves through various consumption objects.” In structure, in response to the demand for military goods and heavy this sense, green tea serves to form nation extended-self. industry products, giving a boost to the high economic growth. On The strength of group identity is inferred by our informants’ the other hand, it induced a decline in its share of agricultural sector. following contentions: “Japanese tea is the heart of Japanese”; “It’s Nevertheless, literature, art, religion, and other cultural infrastruc- the DNA of the Japanese”; “It’s the most representative beverage of tures of Japan continue to be imbued by the perceived proximity of the nation.” They consider that Japanese tea is the tea proper for the people to nature. their own consumption and regard non-Japanese tea as the tea to be An important aspect of nature is its seasonal changes. Nature consumed by “others.” A female (40) claimed that “because we are changes in accordance with the temporal cycle of four seasons. Japanese, it has to be Japanese tea, just like for English people, it has Thus, to live in harmony with nature means to closely correspond to be black tea” when asked whether black tea would be a substitute in passing of time while appreciating the transient aspects of nature for Japanese tea. Another female (34) commented that Chinese teas in each season. This spirit is best represented by Zen Buddhist monk and Japanese teas were as different as coffee and tea. One informant Dogen (1200-1253) who wrote in his poem Innate Reality, “cherry commented that she felt a pleasant aftertaste of green tea because blossoms in the spring, the cuckoo in the summer, the moon in the she is Japanese, as Western people might experience the similar autumn, the snow in the winter,” to imply the unity of the self with sensation with the aftertaste of coffee, which she believed was the beauty of four seasons, the very essence of Japanese culture. nasty. In her explanation, she earnestly (and naïvely) attributed the This further relates to Japanese emphasis on culinary harmony with difference to nationality rather than physiological and cultural the seasons: Eat the things of the season. In this regard, shun, or food conditioning to the beverage. in season, is of highest importance in the Japanese dietary culture. Moreover, some informants’ perception of Japanese tea re- In case of tea, shin-cha, or freshly cropped new tea leaves, are vealed a somewhat nationalistic tone of their ethnic identity. It thus the ideal kind of tea. In the present study, several informants became more apparent when they were asked to compare Japanese emphasized whether or not the tea is shin-cha is the evaluative teas with Chinese teas. Some are ignorant about differences: One criterion for purchase decision making, but not the brand of tea. female (36) insisted that “Japanese is the only nation to drink non- Indeed, none of them mentioned the brand name as important in fermented green tea …,” believing it is a uniquely Japanese way to selecting teas. As in Eliade’s (1959) notion of cosmogony, fresh tea leaves. Another female (40) compared Chinese and leaves indicate the annual repetition of creation, the sacred time. Japanese teas in the following way: “… I think Chinese and Traditionally, farmers start picking tea leaves around May 2 or 3, on Japanese teas are a bit different. I wouldn’t think Japanese is better. hachiju-hachi-ya or the Eighty Eighth Day (counting from the first I don’t mean to be patriotic … But I feel things Japanese are more day of the spring by the old calendar). On this sacred day, rice delicate than Chinese… I feel that Japanese tea is more carefully porridge or baked rice is offered to the god of rice in some regions. 266 / Elixir of Eternal Life or Libation to Ethnic Spirits: The Meanings of Tea in Japan New tea leaves thus become inviolably sacred, partly because of Ashkenazi, Michael (1990), “Anthropological Aspects of the this sacralization through an annual farming ritual and external Japanese Meal: Tradition, Internationalization, and Aesthet- Shintoist sanction, and therefore brands become irrelevant (Belk, ics,” in Rethinking Japan, vol. 2, ed. A. Boscaro, F. Gatti and Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989). On the other hand, fusion tea and M. Raveri, London: Paul Norbury: 338-349. bottled soft-drink tea are deemed jadou and profane. Belk, Russell W. (1988), “Possessions and the Extended Self,” As the nature was destroyed and diminished in parallel to Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (September), 139-168. accelerating industrialization, it started to bloom in the collective (1991), “Possessions and the Sense of Past,” in High- memory of the nation as a remembrance of things past. The ways and Buyways: Naturalistic Research from the Con- construct furusato or inaka, or old homestead or one’s home region, sumer Behavior Odyssey, ed. Russell Belk, Provo, UT: serves to unite nature (which is signified by tea) with nostalgic past, Association for Consumer Research, 114-130. as the Japanese search for nature and the idealized homestead in the , Melanie Wallendorf, and John F. Sherry Jr. (1989), countryside. Local governments and the tourist industry have “The Sacred and the Profane in Consumer Behavior: successfully attached a romanticized image to furusato and pro- Theodicy on the Odyssey,” Journal of Consumer Research, moted a number of commercially appropriated furusato destina- 16 (June), 1-39. tions. Postindustrial urbanite consumers seem to have a particularly Castile, Rand (1971), The Way of Tea, New York: John strong attachment to furusato and inaka. Our informants whose Weatherhill, Inc. inaka was a famous source of tea production, such as Shizuoka in Eliade, Mircea (1959), The Sacred and The Profane: The Nature the mainland and Yame in Kyushu Island, keenly indicated their of Religion, New York: Harper & Row. strong loyalty and longing for teas from there. Consumers may seek Farb, Peter, and George Armelagos (1980), Consuming for a compensation for the nostalgic past in tea. In this regard, tea Passions: The Anthropology of Eating, Boston, MA: and tea consumption play a role of providing a collective sense of Houghton Mifflin Company. past and aggregate sense of self to define the selves and give Gainer, Brenda (1995), “Ritual and Relationships: Interpersonal directions for the future (Belk 1991). Influences on Shared Consumption,” Journal of Business Research, 32, 253-260. CONCLUSIONS Gould, Stephen (1998), “Deconstructing and Inscribing Cross- The present paper explores the multifaceted meanings of Cultural Consumption through Drinking Tahitian Takis Tea: Japanese tea and its consumption rite to Japanese consumers. Based Is it Too Late or Never Too Late to Experience the Authentic on the interpretive study of interviews with twenty-eight native Culture of Polynesia?” in Advances in Consumer Research, Japanese consumers, we find that Japanese tea, a beverage par Vol. 25, eds. Joseph W. Alba and J. Wesley Hutchinson, excellence, is considered indispensable and irreplaceable in their Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 31- 36. self and group identities, analogous to rice. Five emergent themes Hass, Robert (1994), The Essential Haiku: versions of Basho, are: tea and daily consumption ritual, commensality, honmono and Buson, and Issa, Hopewell, N.J.: Ecco Press. jadou, selves and “others,” and a metaphor of nature and nostalgic Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association (2003), past. Daily ritual of tea consumption is somewhat comparable to the Jihanki fukyudaisu oyobi nenkan jihankingaku: Heisei 15 Shintoist “purification” ritual that functions as an agent of catharsis. (Annual Statistics of Vending Machines Units and Revenues: Tea and experiences associated with tea in the commensal event are 2003), Tokyo: JVMMA. precipitated more solidly into the memory of the consumer than Kubokawa, Yusuke, and Keiichiro Fukushima (1991), Cha no those consumed alone. Natural Japanese teas are honmono, or daijiten (Encyclopedia of Tea), Shizuoka-shi: “Cha no authentic, and considered distinct from the rest. New green tea Daijiten” Kankokai. leaves are considered particularly valuable or sacred, as opposed to Lévy-Strauss, Claude (1969), The Raw and the Cooked, New branded green and other fusion teas sold in cans and bottles, which York: Harper & Row. are deemed illegitimate by some. As a metaphor of lost nature, tea Loveday, Leo and S. Chiba (1985), “Partaking with the Divine also provides a sense of past to bridge the past and the present, and and Symbolizing the Societal: the Semiotics of Japanese gives directions for the future in the collective national identity of Food and Drink,” Semiotica, 56 (1-2), 115-131. Japanese consumers. 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