Do you have a special day for tea? We do. The 1st of November is “the day of black tea”, which was set by Japan Tea Association in 1983 to spread the consumption of black tea. Why November 1st?
Apparently, it was the very first day that Japanese ever had “black tea”. The person was a castaway, named Daikokuya Kōdayū. In 1783, his ship drifted on the way to Japan, but managed to escape to the Russian mainland. People there saved his life and he stayed for a while. Eventually, he was received in audience by Catherine II, Empress of Russia then and allowed to go back to Japan. At that time, he was invited to her tea party and had a cup of tea there. That was on November 1st.
Since it was the empress’s tea party, he might have been too nervous to enjoy the taste, but I am curious what it was like.
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| DAIKOKUYA Kodayu |
