XAVIER CARNEGIE: Amir is a fashion entrepreneur by day
and a Lyft driver by night.
He's planning a trip to Japan, so
something tells me he's going to love what we have to show him.
Welcome to the Freer and the Sackler galleries.
Oh, wow.
Thank you.
XAVIER CARNEGIE: Curator Louise Cort is excited to show off one
of the museum's star artifacts.
Have you ever been in museum storage before?
Never.
This is a first. - Oh, good.
[LAUGHING]
I'm really excited about it.
I am, too.
Here we are in the storeroom.
Oh, nice.
Come on in.
Very cool.
XAVIER CARNEGIE: Amir might be wondering why we dragged him
back here to see a brown jar, but this jar has
a very unusual tale to tell.
Jars like this were made in southern China
by the thousands--
AMIR BYRON BROWDER: Wow.
LOUISE CORT: --every day.
These were like the Tupperware of their time.
XAVIER CARNEGIE: These ordinary jars
were mass produced in China to transport goods across Asia's
thriving trade routes.
Most didn't survive the journey.
But this jar made it to Japan in the late 1300s
and was put to use storing a valuable delicacy, tea.
Around that time, tea drinking had
become an extremely important ritual in the upper reaches
of Japanese society.
This was a custom that was practiced, in particular,
by the ruling warrior class.
The people we know sometimes as samurai
were the ones who, as the rulers of the country,
popularized the drinking of tea.
XAVIER CARNEGIE: The samurai embraced tea drinking
as a cultural dimension to their personas
as military conquerors, and they turned it into a competition.
LOUISE CORT: They practiced it much like many people
practice drinking wine today.
They test the aroma and compare the flavor
and try to guess where the wine was made.
So there were tea drinking contests in the 14th century.
AMIR BYRON BROWDER: Tea drinking contests.
Wow.
LOUISE CORT: And they'd have to write down which plantation--
AMIR BYRON BROWDER: Uh-huh.
LOUISE CORT: --they thought the tea had been grown in.
XAVIER CARNEGIE: Over time, tea drinking
became less of a contest and more of an art form.
Tea jars became the most revered objects for display
in tea ceremonies.
This particular jar became the prized
possession of Japan's wealthiest and most powerful men.
By the 16th century, it became so famous it
was even given a name, Chigusa.
Not every jar for storing tea leaves would get a name.
Only the jars that everyone agreed
were really very handsome.