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American resident passes Shizuoka tea hand-rolling instructor certification, first foreign national to qualify

Brett Meyer, a 44-year-old American resident of Hamamatsu, passed the instructor certification exam administered by the Shizuoka Tea Hand-Rolling Preservation Society in September 2026, becoming the first foreign national to achieve the qualification. Meyer, who has worked with the preservation society's Hamamatsu chapter for five and a half years and holds Japanese Tea Instructor credentials, is fluent in both Japanese and English. Industry observers see his bilingual expert…

Chunichi Shimbun — Tea / Nishio Aichi · 2026-10-31

静岡茶の手もみ指導者に外国出身で初合格浜松のブレットさん、母国アメリカで実演へ - 中日新聞Web

American resident passes Shizuoka tea hand-rolling instructor certification, first foreign national to qualify — Photograph: Chunichi Shimbun — Tea / Nishio Aichi

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Key points

Brett Meyer, American, first foreign national to pass Shizuoka tea hand-rolling instructor certification exam (September…
Meyer joined Hamamatsu chapter of Shizuoka Tea Hand-Rolling Preservation Society 5.5 years ago; previously certified as…
Hand-rolling (temomi) designated national registered intangible cultural property in 2024; approximately 1,000 practitio…
Meyer fluent in Japanese and English; industry expects him to demonstrate hand-rolling techniques in the United States

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The numbers

Brett Meyer's age: 44 Years in Hamamatsu preservation society: 5年半 Hand-rolling practitioners nationwide: 千人余 Preservation societies nationwide: 20

What they said

“He is a person capable of introducing Japanese tea in English. His strength is that he can speak from his own experience with hand-rolling tea, in his own words.”

英語で日本茶を紹介ができる人材。手もみ茶経験などに基づき、自分の言葉で語れるのが強み