Shizuoka

Travel

Experience the local culture with craftsmen and producers, “a moment of handicrafts”, from tea picking to tea making

2022.04.27

Local cultural experience with craftsmen and producers “Moment of handicrafts” is an experience event where you can meet craftsmen, writers, and producers who inherit the local culture. It is a local cultural experience where customers can see the rare technique up close and get to know behind the scenes.
At Hoshino Resorts KAI Enshu, a hot spring inn with the theme of sencha, we will hold a “new tea picking and tea making experience where you can feel the blessings of nature” with the cooperation of the tea farm “Marutama Tea” in the prefecture.

New tea picking and the first tea making experience where you can feel the blessings of nature

With the motto of making tea that is kind to nature, we will go to the “Marutama Tea” farm, which consistently grows tea leaves and makes tea, in the early summer when tea sprouts appear, and experience tea picking.

While receiving guidance from a tea master who is a tea professional, the soft sprouts are picked one by one by hand and carefully kneaded to finish the tea leaves. There is also time to taste the finished tea with the tea shop’s original tea confectionery. You can see that the tea that you usually drink casually is made through various processes and careful handicrafts by the skill of the tea master.

After experiencing at the farm, enjoy tea in Hoshino Resorts

When you arrive at Hoshino Resorts KAI, relax while being healed by the scent of tea in the open-air bath where a basket full of tea leaves floats. After that, you can enjoy the unique taste of new tea and the refreshing aroma of young leaves while drinking and comparing it with the tea harvested in summer and autumn at the local music “Handy New Tea Experience”.

You can enjoy the prepared teas from the prefecture one after another while enjoying the view of Lake Hamana in front of you at the newly opened “Bicharaku Lounge” in February 2022. A moment to immerse yourself in the afterglow by shaking the tea picking and tea making experience. You can deeply feel the depth of the taste of tea and its charm.

Tea plantation: "Marutama tea"

A teahouse made by our own garden in Kita-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. With the aim of “making tea that you want your children to have confidence in,” we are cultivating tea that does not use any herbicides and does not burden the environment, while keeping the blessings of nature. We also use the tea leaves to manufacture hojicha, brown rice tea, and Japanese black tea, mainly deep-steamed green tea at our own factory.

“Marutama Tea” Comment from Mr. Yasuyuki Suzuki, Shizuoka Prefecture Hand Kneading Preservation Society Master / Tea Industry Manager

Tea leaf kneading by a tea master

The method of hand-kneading tea is an intangible cultural property designated by Shizuoka Prefecture, and is the basis of the current tea-making machines.
The technique of kneading steamed tea leaves to a needle-like shape over 4 to 5 hours while changing the kneading method according to the ever-changing state is just right to call it a handicraft.

It is interesting enough just to see the hand-kneading techniques that our ancestors have devised, refined and handed down, but I think that if you try to knead the tea directly yourself, you will have an even more valuable experience.

Overview of "New tea picking and tea making experience where you can feel the blessings of nature"

Period: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, May 21st to June 23rd, 2022
*June 20th (Mon) is excluded.
Time: First day of accommodation 13: 00-15: 00
Location: Marutama Tea 7172-917 Nakagawa, Hosoe-cho, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka
(Dissolution of local assembly)
Price: 10,000 yen per person (tax included, accommodation fee not included)
Capacity: 1 group per day (1 group 2-4 people)

>Click here to make a reservation

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