Shizuoka Green Tea Guide
To experience the taste and tradition of green tea in Shizuoka is to journey through some of Japan’s most iconic landscapes and defining moments in history.
Overview
Centuries ago a monk brought back tea plant seeds with him from a trip to China. He planted them near his hometown in Shizuoka Prefecture and in doing so, quite literally, planted the seeds of a drink and a culture that is now integral to life in Japan. Today Shizuoka produces nearly half of the nation’s green tea, from plantations that cast exotic shapes and cut dramatic terraces, coating the region in a blanket of luminescent greens. Fed by fresh waters that pour down from the slopes of Mt. Fuji on their way to the Pacific and tended to on family-run farms with hands the recipients of centuries of experience and tradition, green tea here encapsulates the dramatic nature and rich history of Shizuoka and its people.
Proximity to Tokyo and access to the rest of Japan makes it easy for visitors to be a part of Shizuoka’s green tea tradition and take in its stunning backdrop.