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In 1191, having gained a certificate to become a zen teacher, the monk Eisai (明菴栄西) returned to Japan with zen scriptures & tea seeds. For many, this is the origin of matcha in Japan. Eisai would later write the book Kissa Yōjōki ('Drinking Tea for Health').

Eisai took the tea seeds to his friend Abbot Myōe (明恵 1173–1232), who had helped rebuild Kōzan-ji in NW Kyōto. On the mountain slopes of Toganoo Myōe established a tea 'garden'.
It survives to this day, "the birthplace of tea in Japan".