Hi there, employees member Pau right here. On the 14th of November, the Nationwide Hand Rolling Competitors was held within the metropolis of Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture. As per custom, the Wazuka Hand Rolling Preservation Society participated, representing Wazuka within the competitors. In the event you missed the information, final yr’s group, consisting of Kenta-san, Simona, and our very personal Akky-san, secured the first-place victory!
This yr, Wazuka had the chance to take part with two groups, permitting extra individuals from the preservation society to provide it a shot. I used to be extraordinarily humbled and grateful to Akky-san for giving me his spot so I may take part as a competitor this yr. Thanks a lot, Akky.
I participated within the Wazuka Group B, along with two different farmers from Wazuka, Akio and Nishiyama-san. This yr, victory was not on our aspect; congratulations to the Fujieda group!
The competitors began only a few minutes earlier than 9 AM, and the time restrict for ending the tea was 5 hours. That actually stunned me as throughout the coaching rounds, we normally take 6 hours to finish a batch of tea. Per week earlier than the competitors, Akky organized a coaching session the place we may heat up for the competitors in addition to an academic expertise for the interns. It was an awesome expertise, however it took round 7 hours all alongside as we had been making an attempt issues out.
Through the competitors, we began with pretty large leaves that had been distributed on the Hoiro, the paper-covered desk used for hand rolling. It was such a view to see so many tables lined up. A enjoyable factor that occurred is that each group, after discovering their assigned desk, instantly put extension legs beneath the desk to boost them; they’re so low.
Though the leaves supplied by the organizers had been pretty large, they had been additionally excessive in moisture. My teammates and different tables had been additionally speaking about it and questioning the place they’d harvested them. It was nice materials, however in our case, such excessive moisture meant we completed making the tea actually 8 minutes earlier than the time restrict. It was a pattern amongst many of the Kyoto area groups, which appears to sync their timings. Maybe the Kyoto type of hand rolling had one thing to do with this. Nonetheless, I’m so grateful to have had the chance to take part within the competitors. It was an awesome studying expertise each from knowledgeable aspect and likewise from a private standpoint.
I acquired to fulfill many tea farmers from a large spectrum of ages, prefectures, and backgrounds. It was motivating to see all of that tapestry congregating to rejoice the standard strategies of hand rolling.
