The practice of chanoyu, the tea ceremony, one of the most refined and multi-faceted of Japan's arts, includes the production and perception of sounds. The very delicate sounds of movement, pouring water and tapping bamboo are perceived in the intimate environment of the tearoom which is infused with the ongoing sounds of the boiling kettle. The sounds are carefully controlled and organized into clearly discernible patterns. In what ways are the sounds related to Japanese music? Through the examination of scholarship, writings of tea masters, interviews with tea practitioners, the recording and analysis of tea events, and "hands-on" study of Tea, we determine that there are many connections between the sounds of Tea (cha-in) and traditional Japanese music. Shared aesthetic principles, intense involvement by both producer and perceiver of sounds, synaesthetic references, high-context forms and shared cultural basis influenced by Shinto and Buddhism are some of the crossover points between the two art forms. In aural perception, Japanese listeners favor the non- intellectualized hearing of sounds and perceive the humanly-produced sounds of Tea and traditional music as they do the sounds of nature. Study of music and chanoyu indicates a Japanese sound aesthetic based on the: importance of timbre and complex sounds, interest in the rich voice of the single sound, enjoyment of sound's transient character, use of dynamic balance, choice of relatively quiet sounds and slow tempos, richness of context, focus on gesture and flexibility, and the importance of setting.