It’s appropriate that research into the genes for caffeine in tea and coffee plants should
be done at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo. The university is named for the Ochanomizu district of Tokyo, a name
that literally means tea water. The name arose in the early 17th century, when the second
Tokugawa shogun took such a strong liking to the water from a well in the area that he had
the water brought regularly to Edo castle for the brewing of his tea.
Craig R. Bina
Northwestern University
Evanston, Ill.
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