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San Antonio residents will have a rare opportunity to witness a centuries-old Japanese tea-making tradition this weekend as master artisans from Japan demonstrate the art of hand-rolling tea at the Japanese Tea Garden.
The demonstration, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., will showcase Temomi, a traditional technique dating back approximately 300 years. The craft involves carefully kneading, rolling and shaping tea leaves by hand over heated tables, requiring precision and years of experience.
The visiting delegation comes from Shizuoka, Japan's largest tea-producing region, and includes several accomplished Temomi masters. Their visit is part of a Texas tour organized to preserve traditional Japanese tea craftsmanship and encourage cultural exchange.
Diana Peña, chair of the U.S. Temomi Preservation Society and founder of Present Tea, said the demonstration offers an unusually rare opportunity to experience the tradition firsthand.
"About 0.01% of the population in Japan ever gets to see or taste temomi cha. It's very celebrated because it's also given to the emperor of Japan during ceremonial harvests every year. At auction, it can be sold for about 10 to 15,000 dollars per kilo," Peña said.
The finished tea is highly prized, but the process itself is central to the tradition. Unlike tea leaves processed through modern, mechanical production, Temomi relies on artisans using their hands to carefully manipulate the leaves, preserving techniques passed down through generations.
Peña said visitors will be able to get an up-close look at the work and, if they stay through the end of the demonstration, even experience the tea themselves.
"They'll be kneading it, rolling it, shaping it, forming it, and they'll let people come and touch it if they stay till the end and experience the smell, the aroma, and the feel of what handcrafted tea feels like," she said.
The delegation includes Jin Arai, vice president of the Shizuoka Prefectural Tea Hand-rolling Preservation Association; Temomi grandmaster Takeshi Suzuki; masters Takanori Otsuka and Emi Yoshida, one of the few women to achieve master status; and Bret Mayer, a Temomi master and official interpreter.
The visit also highlights the long history of tea production in Shizuoka. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, helped champion tea from the region.
Peña said Ieyasu recognized the area's natural advantages for growing high-quality tea.
"He loved the Shizuoka region precisely because of its geographic advantages to producing some of the best tea in the world. It had high-altitude, misty air that protected the leaves and gave it this very rich, vibrant, unique flavoring character," she said.
The San Antonio demonstration coincides with the Japanese Tea Garden's 100th anniversary. Organizers say the milestone provides an opportunity to celebrate the cultural connections between Japan and San Antonio while introducing more people to a tradition that is increasingly rare, even in Japan.
The Temomi demonstration is free and open to the public at the garden's main pavilion, located at 3853 St. Mary's St. The garden will also host a community and cultural day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., featuring an artisan market, cultural activities and tea tastings.
For Peña, bringing the Japanese masters to Texas is about more than demonstrating a historic craft. It's an opportunity to build connections through a tradition that has long brought people together.
"You know they're eager to come and see Texas and learn about our history to bring people together because traditionally that's what tea has done over Millennia," said
Peña. "It's always about slowing down and bringing people together. It's about preserving this tradition. So, they want to share it with the West. With us. Hopefully meet people and find a way to connect and make new friends."
