Cha No Sekai Shi Ryokucha No Bunka to Kocha No Shakai (Chukoshinsho)

[Machine Translation] Europeans who visited Japan in the 16th century were deeply attracted to the culture of the tea ceremony. The modern history of Europe began with a fascination for tea and the pursuit of tea. Capitalism, which grew with tea and cotton cloth as its catalysts, eventually opened its doors to the East. Suddenly, Japan's exported product "tea" was thrown into the world market, but as a commodity, it was clearly losing ground. If you have a cup of tea in your hand, you know that the contents of that cup have changed the course of world history.

一六世紀に日本を訪れたヨーロッパ人は茶の湯の文化に深い憧憬を抱いた。茶に魅せられ茶を求めることから、ヨーロッパの近代史は始まる。なかでもイギリスは独特の紅茶文化を創りあげ、茶と綿布を促進剤として伸長した資本主義は、やがて東洋の門戸を叩く。突如世界市場に放り出された日本の輸出品「茶」は、商品としてはもはや敗勢明らかだった。読者がいま手に茶碗をお持ちなら、その中身は世界史を動かしたのである。