被遺忘的帝國文化：臺灣烏龍茶在20世紀前半日本的傳播

18世紀末，英國人的口味從bohea茶變成congou茶，或者按現在的說法，從烏龍茶變成了紅茶。1910年日英博覽會上展出的臺灣烏龍茶室獲得了巨大成功，但這並沒有讓烏龍茶的消費在英國紮根。然而，在20世紀20年代的美國，烏龍茶就是高級茶的代名詞。
1895年臺灣被吞併後，日本殖民者立即重視起烏龍茶，並將其作為從臺灣帶到日本本土的紀念品。而1905年底在銀座開業的一家臺灣喫茶店在推廣臺灣烏龍茶方面，更是起到了核心作用。烏龍茶因為日本發展殖民化產業被促進生產和出口，於是就成為了近代繼咖啡和紅茶之後最受歡迎的飲品之一。
在營銷方面，三井物產和三越公司經常使用更容易聯想到西方的片假名來宣傳臺灣烏龍茶，而不是使用更容易聯想到中國的漢字。事實上，報紙廣告中描繪的烏龍茶形像大多是西方或南洋風格的，很難與紅茶區分開來。結果，當時的烏龍茶雖然是「國產茶」的一種，但是卻和紅茶一樣，很容易被誤解為是「進口的高級商品」。
1903年，第五屆內國勸業博覽會在大阪舉行，臺灣總督府開設了臺灣館，由茶商組成的行業協會的臺北茶商公會在臺灣館開設了一家喫茶店。此後，臺灣喫茶店經常在日本的博覽會和共進會上開設，1910年代和1920年代成為烏龍茶在日本全國普及的第一個時期。

British tea preferences underwent a significant shift from bohea tea to congou tea or, in contemporary terms, from oolong tea to black tea, toward the end of the 18th century. The Formosa Oolong Tea Room at the Japan–British Exhibition of 1910 enjoyed considerable success and was expected to catalyze the popularization of oolong tea in Britain. However, oolong tea failed to establish a significant presence in the British market. In contrast, during the 1920s, oolong tea remained synonymous with high-quality tea in the United States.
Shortly after Taiwan’s annexation in 1895, Japanese colonists cherished oolong tea as a souvenir from Taiwan to Japan. The opening of a Taiwanese tea house in Ginza in 1905, with the support of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office, played a central role in promoting Taiwanese oolong tea. Oolong tea emerged as a modern favorite beverage in Japan, following the trajectory of black tea and coffee, as its production and export were encouraged for colonial development.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsukoshi consistently utilized katakana, commonly associated with Western culture, to advertise Taiwanese oolong tea, as opposed to kanji, which was more closely linked to China. Most oolong tea images featured in newspaper advertisements adopted Western or tropical aesthetics, causing it to be easily confused with black tea. Despite being a domestic tea, oolong tea, popular in Japan during that era, was frequently misconstrued as an upscale imported commodity, much like black tea.
In 1903, the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office inaugurated the Taiwan Pavilion at the Fifth Domestic Industrial Exhibition in Osaka, where the Taipei Tea Merchant Public Association established a tea house. Subsequently, Taiwanese tea houses became a standard feature at Japanese expositions. The 1910s and 1920s marked the initial period of oolong tea gaining widespread popularity in Japan.