NAJTIA (North American Japanese Tea Instructors Association) is a non profit organization representing the Japanese Tea industry and the traditions around Japanese Tea in North America.
Before NAJTIA, you could only study the material from the Nihoncha Instructor Association in the Japanese language.
It’s a big step forward for Japanese tea culture worldwide.
There are currently two online courses available: a free Introduction Course, and the Bamboo Certification Course.
The Bamboo Certification Course
This online course is essentially the contents of the book Nihoncha no Subete ga Wakaru Hon (日本茶のすべてがわかる本), writtten by the Nihoncha Instructor Association.
This book hadn’t been translated to English until now. I actually have a copy of the Japanese version.
The course has nine chapters, and most of them talk about Japanese tea only.
Each chapter is further divided into different topics. While the content is fairly advanced, it’s not difficult nor boring to read.
As support, there are pictures and charts. I would have liked some video as an extra material, though.
When you finish a chapter, you can take an online quiz. You need to obtain a passing grade in order to complete the course.
At the end, you will receive the certification diploma. I think that I’m one of the first people to obtain this diploma 🙂
Note however, that this course is not the most advanced one. That is, it’s not the equivalent of being a Japanese tea instructor in Japan.
They are working on the next course. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.
If you want to dive deeper into Japanese tea, this course is a good start. I plan to take the following course once it’s available.
Update: NAJTIA has closed.
January 17, 2017
Thanks for the information. I was looking into it a few months ago, but wondered how it compared to the actual course in Japanese. It’s good to hear a review from someone who has completed both. Thanks again!
January 17, 2017
Hi Becki
I took the more advanced course in Japanese, and this one in English, but not both in each language.
January 17, 2017
Ooh I have the Japanese book. Is the English book available outside America? Also, is the course open to people outside America?
January 18, 2017
Hi Mei
As far as I know, the physical book is only available in Japanese, and its translation is in the online course.
Yes, people from outside America can take the course.
Nice tea blog, by the way 🙂
January 20, 2017
Thanks! Helpful info as always. 😀
As for my blog, it’s still new and by a newbie. Haha.. enjoying the tea learning process. 🙂
January 18, 2017
Thank you, Ricardo! I think I’m going to take the Bamboo course – and now looking through the free one…
January 18, 2017
Thanks for your comment Valeria.
Enjoy the course!
December 21, 2019
Hi Ricardo! Thank you for always keeping us informed with the latest news about Nihoncha.
I went to the NAJTIA website but it is closed since July 2019 🙁
Do you know when will they have the new system ready?
Thank you Ricardo.
December 21, 2019
Hi Kawabe san.
I haven’t talked with them, but the closing could be permanent due to low demand. For example they haven’t shared anything on social media either.
It’s also unclear when will the Nihoncha Instructor Association offer its course in English.
April 6, 2020
It seems like the site has been closed. Do you if it is still possible to get a copy of the book in English?
April 7, 2020
Hi Kyle.
It’s possible to buy the book in Amazon Japan but only in Japanese. However, it seems like the Nihoncha Instructor Association started to work on their course in English.
What I don’t know is when will it be ready.
April 7, 2020
Thanks for the reply. My company wants me to take the Nihoncha Instructor course, but it’s hard looking up all these new kanji. Oh well, I will just keep at it.