[Iruma City, Saitama] 'Hachijuhachiya New Tea Festival' Held to Experience New Tea with All Five Senses at the 'City Hall Tea Plantation'

"The maximum production area of Sayama Tea, one of Japan's three major teas, 'Iruma City'. The scent of new tea drifts in front of the city hall."

The Iruma City Tea Industry Association holds the "Hachijuhachiya New Tea Festival" every year to coincide with this milestone. This year, it will also be held on the very day of "Hachijuhachiya" (May 2nd). A "tea picking experience" at the tea plantation beside the city hall, and a hand-rolling demonstration by the "Iruma City Hand-Rolled Sayama Tea Preservation Society," which has shone as "Japan's No. 1 for 20 consecutive years" at the National Hand-Rolled Tea Exhibition, offer sights that can only be seen on this day of the year.

Furthermore, during the "Tea Picking Experience Bus Tour" on April 25th, the "Iruma City Tea Ambassador" (selected at the T-1 Grand Prix in Iruma) will serve the new tea hand-picked early by the Tea Industry Association members and tour participants in the "Early Release Greenhouse" to the visitors. We will also be distributing 1,500 single-brew packs of new tea and 150 tea seedlings for free. (Both are on a first-come, first-served basis after the opening ceremony.)

The content will allow you to experience the tea culture that Iruma is proud of along with the scent of new tea, so we invite you to consider covering and publishing articles about it.

If you are able to cover the event, please contact the Agricultural Promotion Division or the Secretarial Public Relations Division by Friday, May 1st.

Event Outline

Date and Time: Saturday, May 2, 2026, 8:45 AM - 11:30 AM *Rain or shine

Location: Iruma City Hall Entrance (West Exit) and beside the tea plantation

Organizer: Iruma City Tea Industry Association, Chairman: Yoshio Degawa

Co-organizer: Iruma City / Iruma City Hand-Rolled Sayama Tea Preservation Society (Chairman: Shogo Hiratsuka)

*Please use the city hall or former civic hall parking lot.

[Inquiries regarding this matter]

Business Content:

Environmental Economy Department, Agricultural Promotion Division: Kawamura, Sato

1-16-1 Toyooka, Iruma City

TEL: 04-2964-1111 (Extension 4232)

Other:

Planning Department, Secretarial Public Relations Division: Kishida, Toyama

1-16-1 Toyooka, Iruma City

TEL: 04-2964-1111 (Extension 3122)

■ About Iruma City

[From the Home of Sayama Tea to the World] The Future Map of the "Well-being City" Envisioned by Iruma City

~A new model woven by world-class traditional techniques and cutting-edge co-creation urban development~

About 1 hour from the Tokyo metropolitan area. Blessed with the rich nature of the Kanto Plain, Iruma City features the beautiful original landscape of tea plantations, which is the northernmost limit for large-scale tea gardens in Japan. It is the main production area of "Sayama Tea," which has a history of about 400 years, and achieved an unprecedented feat of "Japan's No. 1 for 20 consecutive years and 25 times in total" at the National Hand-Rolled Tea Exhibition, a first in history. At the Osaka-Kansai Expo to be held in 2025, demonstrations were showcased, transmitting its wonderful traditional techniques to the world.

On the other hand, the diversity where American culture of "Johnson Town," which redeveloped the former US military base site, and large commercial facilities coexist is also a great appeal of the city. In 2022, it was selected as an "SDGs Future City" and enacted the nation's first "I Love Delicious Sayama Tea Ordinance." Under the purpose of "creating and passing on the 'original landscape of the future' where one can stay rich in heart," we aim to realize "Well-being City Iruma."

Furthermore, through the public-private partnership platform "Iruma Future Co-creation Lab," we are successively shaping unconventional next-generation urban development, such as scent analysis with universities, e-sports, and cross-industry collaborations with entertainment companies.

▼ Click here for the proposal form for solving local issues and co-creation projects in Iruma City from companies and organizations.

"Iruma Future Co-creation Lab" connects your ideas with the potential of the region.

https://www.city.iruma.saitama.jp/gyosei_joho/purpose/10547.html

[Basic Information of the City]

Iruma City Hall

Location: 1-16-1 Toyooka, Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture

Phone: 04-2964-1111 (Representative)

《Link List》

Official Website: https://www.city.iruma.saitama.jp/

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