Local Guide
From tea fields to Japanese tea cafes. 4 recommended places to enjoy tea in Shizuoka (Hamamatsu, Shimada, Makinohara)

Shizuoka Prefecture, which accounts for about 40% of the nation's tea plantations, is Japan's number one tea-producing region, with bright greenery stretching as far as the eye can see. The prefecture produces high quality tea thanks to its mild climate suitable for tea cultivation and techniques handed down over the years.
The prefecture is dotted with famous tea-producing areas all over the place, including Hamamatsu, Shimada, and Makinohara. Here are four recommended spots unique to the tea-producing areas, including tea theme parks, workshops, Japanese tea cafes, and tea-picking experiences.

*Please note that opening hours may change or the shops may be closed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Please check in advance before visiting.

Refresh your body and mind with safe and reliable tea

Herb and green tea (3 packets) 500 yen. Mini packets and tea sweets are also available.
Herb and green tea (3 packets) 500 yen. Mini packets and tea sweets are also available.

Located along Hime Kaido (Prefectural Route 261), this tea store handles all aspects of tea cultivation, production, and sales. Under the motto of "making tea we want our children to drink with confidence," the shop cultivates environmentally friendly tea using no herbicides and reduced use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
In addition to its main line of deep steamed green tea, the store sells hojicha, genmaicha, and Japanese black tea in tea leaves and tea bags. The packaging is also sophisticated and makes a great souvenir. Don't miss tea sweets such as green tea and hojicha cookies, green tea bean-jam buns, and hojicha kuzumochi (kuzumochi rice cake).

Rediscover the charm of tea in a petit workshop

One of the petit workshops is the
One of the petit workshops is the "Relaxing Experience of Hand-pulled Green Tea," where you can savor the tea after it has been hand-pulled for six hours.

The grounds include tea fields, a direct sales shop, a factory, the "Marutama Teahouse," and a garden where visitors can take a stroll. Various workshops are held at the "Marutama Tea House," a renovated farm equipment shed. The "Petit Workshops," which can be experienced without reservations, offer two or three different options each month, and the "Petit Tea Tasting Experience," in which visitors try their hand at tasting three different kinds of tea, is popular and enjoyable as if it were a game. Check the website for the dates and times.

Marutama Tea Manufacturing
  • Address 7172-917 Nakagawa, Hosoe-cho, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka MAP
  • Direction 40 min. ride from JR Hamamatsu Stn. on the Entei Bus bound for Kiga or Mikkaichi, 5 min. walk from "Oya" bus stop.
  • Business hours 9:00-18:00
  • Closed Sunday, Holidays
  • TEL 053-522-0517, toll free 0120-120517
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Memo Check the website for details on petit workshops.

Taste the famous tea soba noodles at a café overflowing with greenery

Nooto no chasoba
Nooto no chasoba" (tea soba with tea) 800 yen. Can be ordered all day long.

A wooden house in a quiet residential area in Higashi Ward, Hamamatsu City, is a cafe specializing in Japanese tea. You can enjoy about 30 kinds of teas carefully selected from all over Japan, including famous teas such as "Tenryu Koshun" and "Morimachi no Ocha" from Shizuoka, as well as black tea and fermented tea. A cup of tea brewed according to the characteristics of the tea, such as the temperature of the water and the brewing time, is rich in aroma and flavor, and has a blissful taste that will bring a smile to your face. You will be reminded of the deliciousness of tea brewed in a kyusu.
The restaurant is also known for its light meals using tea, and we recommend the "Nootono Chasoba" (green tea soba). The tea soba served with matcha green tea dipping sauce is refreshing and the flavor of tea spreads down your throat.

Enjoy a variety of tea sweets with famous teas

Koicha-no-keki
Koicha-no-keki" (thick tea cake) 450 yen, "Morimachi's tea (deep steamed sencha)" 500 yen. 100 yen off the total price for a tea and snack set.

After the chasoba, you can enjoy seasonal sweets that go well with tea, or sweets that incorporate tea. The Koicha no Kake, made with matcha green tea produced in Morimachi, offers the rich flavor and aroma of matcha green tea. The seasonal menu is also popular, with "Shizuoka Tea Shaved Ice" available from July to September. Matcha, hojicha, black tea, and matcha-zukashi ice are available. The shaved ice is a popular treat that many fans eagerly await.
The store space sells all the tea leaves served at the cafe. There is also a gallery where artwork by local residents is displayed and sold, allowing visitors to spend a relaxing and comfortable time.

Tea Room Sound
  • Address 5-25-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture MAP
  • Direction 40 minute bus ride from JR Hamamatsu Station on the Entei Bus bound for Medical College, 5 minute walk from Mikatahara Office stop.
  • Business Hours 10:30 - 16:30 (L.O. 16:00)
  • Closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (open if the day falls on a national holiday)
  • TEL 053-443-8750
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Age limit No one under 10 years old is allowed to enter

Find the perfect tea for you at the Green Tea Experience!

Green Tea Tours
Green Tea Tours" takes about 20 minutes and can be reserved at the ticket vending machine on the day of the tour. Participants will receive a special miniature tea cup (ochoko) as a gift.

Located next to Monde Station on the Oigawa Railway, this food park offers experiences in green tea, agriculture, and tourism. It has a variety of Properties, including a marché featuring freshly picked vegetables, fruits, green tea, and other agricultural products from the Oigawa River basin, as well as restaurants and a tourist information center.
Experiences related to tea are also a hot topic, the most notable being the "Green Tea Tours. Visitors can put on a green poncho and pretend to be a tea leaf to experience "steaming," "rubbing," and "heating," and finally compare four kinds of green tea. At the "Green Tea B.I.Y. Stand," you can have your tea brewed to your liking according to 16 types of tea leaves x hot water temperature x brewing time. You can take home a specially made mini bottle of tea.

Satisfy your appetite with local delicacies incorporating green tea

Yama to Umi no Ochazuke Set Meal: 1,078 yen. You can choose from
Yama to Umi no Ochazuke Set Meal: 1,078 yen. You can choose from "tea only," "tea + soup stock," or "soup stock only.

At the Property's restaurants, you will find a wide variety of green tea-based menu items. The "Yama to Umi no Ochazuke Set Meal" is a popular menu item that comes with ochazuke, one fish of the day, and five side dishes. The rich aroma of green tea spreads out as you pour the tea over the rice, which is covered with a generous amount of honkarebushi (dried bonito flakes) that have been aged for half a year.
The "Kadode Burger," which uses green tea for the bun and sauce, is a local burger with a coarsely ground meat patty and local vegetables. Other restaurants include a buffet restaurant featuring seasonal vegetables, a tea house with a view of a Japanese garden, and Sencha soft-serve ice cream, making it a convenient place for lunch and a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.

KADODE OOIGAWA
  • Address 62 Takeshita, Shimada-shi, Shizuoka MAP
  • Direction Directly connected to Monde Station of Oigawa Railway
  • Business Hours 9:00-18:00 (Varies by area. Please check the website for hours of operation of each restaurant)
  • Closed 2nd Tuesday of the month, and other occasional holidays
  • Admission Fee Admission free, Green Tea Tours and Green Tea B.I.Y. Stand: 500 yen each
  • TEL 0547-39-4073
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Memo Check the website for departure times of Green Tea Tours.

Experience picking tea in Makinohara's vast tea fields

The
The "Tea Picking Experience" is usually held from late April to early October.

Located in the Makinohara Grand Tea Estate, which is famous as a major tea production area, this Property is equipped with a tea factory and a direct sales shop. The facility offers various experiences to enjoy tea, and the "Tea Picking Experience" is particularly popular, as it is unique to the tea production area. It takes about 30 minutes to pick a tea plant by breaking the bud at the tip and the two leaves below it into "one core and two leaves. The feeling of the fresh leaves and the fresh aroma are a valuable Experience that can only be experienced by plucking the tea leaves yourself. You can take home the tea leaves you plucked with a recipe, so why not try them with tempura or kettle-frying style sencha tea?

Visit a tea factory and take home a cup of their signature deep steamed green tea as a souvenir

At the
At the "Mini Tea Making Machine Exhibition Room," visitors can see how the machines used to steam and rub tea leaves work.

The free factory tour is also a must-see to learn more about tea. Visitors can follow the tour pathway to see the process of finishing and bagging tea. In addition, there is a "Mini History Panel Hall" that introduces the history of Makinohara Daichaen, and a "Mini Tea Making Machine Exhibition Room" where you can see tea making machines in operation.
The "Ippinkan" direct sales store sells sencha, black tea, green tea sweets, tea utensils, and other items produced at the factory. The tea produced on the Makinohara Plateau has thick leaves due to the long hours of sunlight, and deep steamed tea, in which the steaming time is prolonged, is the mainstream. The tea is deep steamed for a longer steaming time. The tea is rich in green color and full of flavor, and makes a great souvenir.

Greenpia Makinohara
  • Address 1151 Nishi-Hagima, Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture MAP
  • Direction Approx. 15 min. by car from JR Kikugawa Sta.
  • Business hours Open 10:00-17:00
  • Closed December 29-January 3
  • Admission Fee Admission and factory tour are free. Tea picking experience: 1,000 yen for junior high school students and older, 800 yen for elementary school students (includes a recipe for the tea leaves you pick).
  • TEL 0548-27-2995
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Memo Please check the website for details on the tea picking Experience, such as the time of year, hours, etc.

After a day of sightseeing, how about a relaxing stay at a hot spring hotel overlooking Lake Hamana? Guest rooms are decorated with Enshu cotton pongee, a traditional Hamamatsu craft, and you can soak in an outdoor hot spring with tea leaves floating in it. In addition, a variety of tea hospitality services are available in the hotel.

Heal your body and mind with tea and a spectacular view of Lake Hamana

Tea leaves are packed into baskets and floated in the outdoor hot spring for a
Tea leaves are packed into baskets and floated in the outdoor hot spring for a "tea ball beauty bath.

Approximately 40 minutes by car from Hamamatsu Station. Hot spring ryokan overlooking Lake Hamana. You can fully enjoy the charms of Hamamatsu with two hot springs with different atmospheres, KAI Local Flavors cuisine using a variety of seasonal ingredients, including eel, a specialty of Lake Hamana, and tea-themed hospitality such as "Seasonal Sencha Experience" and "Tea Balls Bath".

The hotel also offers a wide variety of tea-related amenities, including an Outdoor hot spring with floating tea balls, an event where you can learn how to brew and drink delicious sencha green tea, and the Bicharaku Lounge, where you can enjoy your favorite tea from the tea cellar or tea stand while gazing at Lake Hamana and the Tsumugi tea plantation.

Hoshino Resorts KAI Enshu
  • Address 399-1 Tateyamaji-cho, Nishi-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture MAP
  • Direction Approximately 40 minutes by car from JR Hamamatsu Station
  • TEL 050-3134-8092（Kai Reservation Center)
  • Parking Available
  • memo Note: For reservations, click here.
    Hoshino Resorts KAI Enshu Reservation site

MAP

<Recommended places to enjoy tea in Shizuoka (Hamamatsu, Shimada, Makinohara)
<Hot spring ryokan to enjoy Shizuoka, the tea capital of Japan>.
Hoshino Resorts facilities nearby
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The information in this article is current as of the date of the update. Please check before visiting as they are subject to change.