During the Kamakura period (1192–1333) in Japan, ritual tea drinking was first practiced by Zen monks, who drank tea to keep awake during long sessions of meditation, a habit which evovled to become an active part of Zen ritual.

During the 15th century, tea-drinking is done with a gathering of friends in an isolated environment, while discussing the aesthetic merits of paintings, calligraphy, and flower arrangements or quite often to discuss the merits of the tea utensils themselves.