Japan Like the image of the sun goddess, Nippon can look back at a dynasty that has lasted 2,600 years. The language has evolved in its own way and the typography borrows heavily from Chinese characters. Nonetheless, identical characters may have different meanings in the two countries. After Japan annexed Taiwan in 1895, Sakhalin in 1904, and Korea in 1910, it created the Manchukuo Empire in 1934, waged merciless war throughout China, joined the Axis powers of Germany and Italy in 1941, and entered World War II. By 1942 it had conquered almost all of Southeast Asia. The atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima finally forced the Japanese to surrender and return all of the areas they had acquired through warfare since 1895. Today, Japan is one of the world’s major economic powers – despite its lack of natural resources and its need to import virtually all its raw materials. Japan has also once again become a land of beauty and the rising sun. History has come full circle. Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, flower arranging and tea ceremonies represent man and nature in harmony. It would be difficult to imagine Japan without tea. Less than 1% of Japanese tea is exported to Germany. However, Germany still imports more Japanese tea than any other country. The first tea seeds arrived in AD 805, brought by Buddhist monks from the Zhi Zhe Ta temple in Tian Tai Shan in the province of Zheyang (China) to the Japanese islands in the Ureshino area (province of Saga). At first, tea was produced according to Chinese custom by roasting it in metal pans (kamairi-cha). Later, due to the presence of numerous hot springs, the tea was prepared using steam. This is the inimitable way many people like to drink it today. The Japanese venerate all beautiful things – including tea.