Japan's ancient motenashi hospitality still thrives today

Japanese dictionaries define ‘motenashi’ as ‘providing things such as tea, sweets and other food and drink to guests’, but it is also a tradition to entertain one’s guests through play. — The Japan News/Asia News Network

Foreign nationals sometimes tell me how surprised they are by Japan’s “motenashi” hospitality. Shop staff are astonishingly polite in their interactions with customers, and if you go to someone’s home you’re given the royal treatment.

Where did this kind of motenashi (frequently stylised as “omotenashi”) originate?