This Angry Animated Teapot Hopes to Revive Japanese Tea Traditions

With the anticipated increase in tourism to Japan, Japanese people have the chance to demonstrate their world famous culture of hospitality. This spirit of unconditional hospitality (known as Omotenashi), is deeply engrained in Japanese culture and passed on from one generation to the next.

Central to this spirit of hospitality is the service of traditional tea in Japanese homes. However in recent years traditional tea has seen a decline in relevance amongst Japanese consumers. In order to restore relevance to the traditional tea spirit, and revive pride in Omotenashi, the Tokyo Japanese Tea Association and Geometry Global Japan (Geometry) have launched the “Japanese Tea Revival Project”.

Previously, efforts by the tea industry to reverse the decline have focused on the origin of the tea leaves and subsequent quality, but these efforts have been largely unsuccessful. In a bold move, the Japanese Tea Revival Project takes a new approach by uniting the industry across all areas of production to revive the culture of freshly brewed tea.

The campaign kicks off with the launch of an animation featuring freshly-brewed tea served with “Kyusu (急須)”, the traditional Japanese teapot. Here, the somewhat negative idiomatic copy "Banji-Kyusu or 万事急須" (meaning "it's all over” or “nothing else can be done", which is a play on words linking the two meanings of “Kyusu”) is used to illustrate the threat that ready to drink tea is posing to the service of traditional tea, which is a hallmark of Japanese hospitality.

Masato Mitsudera, executive creative director, Geometry Global Japan, said: “Japanese words such as ‘お茶の間 Ochanoma or living room’ (literally meaning ‘tea space’) and ‘日常茶飯事 Nichijo-Sahanji or daily happening’ (literally meaning ‘common activities like eating and having tea’), illustrate that tea has been central to life in Japan for centuries.  Enjoying a freshly-brewed tea with family and friends is a precious moment at the risk of fading away. That is exactly why we launched this project to successfully pass down the heartfelt practice of brewing tea as well as being served tea in Japan.

The campaign is now live and will continue to revive relevance to traditional tea and its role in Japanese hospitality throughout the country.