Abstract: The Japanese tea ceremony is a unique and comprehensive life culture gradually formed during the localization of Chinese tea ceremony and Western cultural values. China is not only the birthplace of tea trees, but also the birthplace of tea ceremony culture. Japan, limited by its material and spiritual shortcomings in the cultural downstream, adhered to the policy of “confusion and Han marginalization” in the process of regulating and constructing its tea ceremony culture, and developed and abandoned the concept of Chinese tea ceremony. Since the 20th century, with a strong sense of self sufficiency, the Japanese tea people have explored the concepts of “democracy”, “equality”, and “freedom” in Japanese tea ceremonies, deliberately strengthening their identity with Western cultural values. The Japanese tea ceremony is a product of the development of the times. The construction of the Japanese tea ceremony spirit that keeps up with the times not only reflects some regular characteristics of Japan‘s absorption of foreign culture, but also highlights some typical characteristics of Japan’s national character.

Key words: Chinese tea ceremony, Japanese tea ceremony, Western values, localization, spiritual construction