Tea production in Japan has largely concluded for the year, but November brings a special event – the National Japanese Tea Hand-Rolling Competition. In this unique contest, teams from tea-producing regions compete to create the longest and straightest tea needles.
The 28th edition of the competition was held on November 14th in Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture. A total of 28 teams participated, with Shizuoka and Kyoto contributing the most – five and four teams respectively.
Some teams traveled the night before, while others departed in the early hours to arrive at the rural venue by 8:30 a.m. on the day of the competition. After registration, participants collected frozen tea leaves and began preparing the rolling tables, known as hoiro. The competition officially began at 9 a.m., giving the teams five hours to present their finished tea needles by 2 p.m.
The hand-rolling process involved several meticulous steps: gently massaging the tea leaves to remove surface moisture, more vigorous rolling to extract internal moisture, unbundling to separate clumps, and shaping the leaves into fine, straight needles. Finally, the tea was dried on the hoiro. This year, however, it seems the tea leaves retained higher-than-usual internal moisture, leaving some teams scrambling to finish on time.
This year’s competition was also notable for the strong presence of GJTea members. Bret joined the Hamamatsu team, Pau participated with a team from Wazuka, and our president Simona also competed with another Wazuka team.
The local team from Fujieda emerged victorious this year. Congratulations to the winners!