The largest tea plantaion
On a hot day in July 2014, I welcomed guests from Scotland, a mother and her son who presented the tour to her as her special birthday present. Since they were interested in Japanese green tea, they chose one day to visit a tea plantation area in Shizuoka(Japan’s biggest tea producer) during their stay in Japan. Makinohara plateau is one of the major tea plantations in Japan. It looks like a huge green carpet!
Tea picking experience 
Our tour started from JR Kanaya Station. A taxi is useful to go around the area. The first visit was one of the tea related facilities in Makinohara, Grinpia. It took about 20minutes by taxi. A very nice and kind staff, Mr. Shimazu showed us around the tea factory to learn about the whole process of making green tea. Then, we tried tea picking in the tea field, wearing a special costume for tea picking. As you see in the pictures, she looks very nice in the costume!
Cha-soba and tea leaf tempura
Girinpia has a a traditional Japanese style restaurant(a 140-year house has been remodeled into a restaurant). We enjoyed lunch there. Cha-Soba(buckwheat noodles with green tea powder mixed in) and tea leaf tempura are the most popular. Give them a try!
Tea ceremony in the World Tea Museum
The next visit was The World Tea Museum (Ocha-no-Sato), it is about 15minutes away from Grinpia by tax. It is a tea museum presenting a variety of tea cultures from across the world and it has a tea house and a garden. We can learn everything about tea there. It must be an exciting experience for them to have an authentic tea ceremony. You don’t have to worry about formalities too much. The tea master(the host of the tea ceremony) will make the ceremony relaxing and enjoyable for visitors. You see their smiles in the picture.
I'll always welcome you!
I was really happy to hear from them that they’d enjoyed a lot on the day! It was my great pleasure to be with you! Thank you very much!
☆ If you are interested in Japanese tea, Shizuoka is the best place to visit!
