At the time of Okakura’s first residency in the United States (1904), he seems to have encountered a minor literary vogue of writing about luxury items such as tobacco or tea as keys to national cultural values. Arthur Gray’s The Little Tea Book (1903) appears to have provided a major impetus for Okakura to explain Japanese culture through the symbolism of Japanese “Teaism” in his Book of Tea (1906). This paper indicates Okakura’s likely “borrowings” as to vocabulary, certain facts, and the structure from Gray’s book. Okakura’s “too poetic” style for the purpose of the book could also be explained by an apparent influence of the poetic and sociable style of Gray’s work intended as a gift book.

　The Book of Tea was not as widely reviewed as Okakura’s two earlier, more “serious,” books, probably due to its seemingly lay approach and sociable style. Yet it has increased its popularity and importance in the States during the years while the two earlier books have almost entirely lost theirs. The most important discovery made by the early reviewers of The Book of Tea must be that the idea of art for art’s sake had existed in Japan centuries earlier than in the West.

　Enthusiasm for the first printing of Okakura Kakuzo’s The Awakening of Japan (1904) and the book’s complete loss of popularity in later years in the West contrast with the fate of his Book of Tea (1906), now considered Okakura’s most important work despite its failure to attract much critical attention when published.

　Studying the American and British reviews of the earlier book at publication, one notes three points. First, all the reviews attached the greatest importance to Chapter IV , in which Okakura shows how Japan’s awakening as a modern nation was accomplished by her own ideology, Commodore Perry having simply given the necessary “prick.” This insight seems to have answered the West’s wonder about Japan’s rapid modernization and her recent military victories over China and Russia. Secondly, the American critics enthusiastically praised the book, while the British critics mauled it — presumably offended by Okakura’s criticism of recent British diplomacy. Thirdly, all the American reviews singled out Okakura’s account on the strong ’ role of Japanese women, apparently contrary to the West’s image of the submissive Japanese woman. These facts ascertain that the book attracted attention due to Japan’s military prominence and diplomatic relations and lost its popular appeal after these changed.

緑茶の嗜好性は香りにあると言っていいほど，香りは緑茶の嗜好を左右する重要な要素である．緑茶の香りは実に多様性に富み，品種，地域，栽培，加工で全く異なる．ここでは，近年発展した茶の香りの分析から，中国緑茶，煎茶，釜炒り茶の香りの特徴，さらに，香りに特徴ある品種，地域で異なる香り，チャの生葉の香り，そして最後に焙煎で変化する煎茶の香りについて紹介する．2015年現在，分析技術を駆使して研究者が明らかにしたことは，緑茶の多様性から見るとほんの一握りである．今後も分析を通じて，五千年の歴史を持つ