◎HIGH PRIEST, Myoe : The founder of tea manufacture in Uji It was by High Priest, Myoe of Kozanji-temple at Toganoo, Kyoto, that tea was first cultivated in Uji. He planted the seeds brought back from China by his Zen master Eisai at the place called Toganoo Fukase. When the seedlings grown from the seeds were ready to be transplanted, he chose Uji as a model region to grow them into tea trees and manufacture tea on a sufficiently large scale. It was the beginning of the History of Uji tea and the first of many steps taken by High Priest Myoe in his effort to spread the production and drinking custom of green tea throughout Japan.
	◎"HOW TEA BENEFITS OUR HEALTH" by Eisai Zen priest Eisai to whom is traced the beginning of our tea drinking practice wrote a book titled "How tea benefits our health". In this book, he explained about various medicinal effects to be found in tea and encouraged people to drink it. As a result, the tea drinking practice spread gradually from aristocrats and priests to samurai worriors. In Muromachi era, the practice took a ceremonial form and has developed to becoome Tea Ceremony of today.
Kitano Tenman Shirine	◎HIDEYOSHI TOYOTOMI AND GRAND TEA CEREMONY AT KITANO In 1587, Hideyoshi Toyotomi held a grand tea ceremony party at Kitano Matsubara near the approach of Kitano Tenman Shirine in Kyoto. It is said that Hideyoshi himself presented an offering of tea at the shrine and that there were as many as 1000 invitees present on the occasion. Two events take place successively on November 26 and December 1 in commemoration of the fete that was held 400 years ago. The first is named "The pot offering festival", the second "Kitano Tea offering ceremony." On both days, the neighborhood of Kitano Tenman Shrine is enveloped in the aroma of green tea.
Hand rubbing method of Green tea	◎SOEN NAGATANI WHO IMPROVED ON THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING GREEN TEA 1738 was the year of technological innovation for the making of Uji Green Tea. Pan roasting that had been in use until then was replaced by hand rubbing method invented by Soen Nagatani,one of the tea manufacturers at Uji at that time, which provided impetus for further innovations that followed one after another. The name of Uji thus obtained a nationwide repute as the most important region of green tea manufacture in Japan.