The Teaching Tea: Culture, History, Practice, Art project is focused on the creation of accessible, multidisciplinary teaching resources on tea culture, history, practice, and art in Japan. Through the contributions of diverse scholars and tea practitioners, we aim to provide clear and convenient, peer-reviewed lesson plans and resources to improve the depth, breadth, and quality of higher education pedagogy on chanoyu (literally "hot water for tea" chanoyu is best translated as Japanese "tea culture" while "tea ceremony" is the most widely used translation). As Teaching Tea develops, it will host high quality photographs, videos, essays, lesson plans, and more. Our flagship event in support of these goals will be an international symposium, scheduled for April 27–28, 2024.

The Teaching Tea Symposium is co-presented by the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities and JAPAN House Los Angeles. The symposium and project workshop are additionally supported by the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies, the Japan Foundation, the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies UCLA, and the Hiroshi Wagatsuma Memorial Fellowship of the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.