I believe the tour will be a great one for tea lovers to learn about more about Japanese tea.
Shizuoka is one of the biggest tea producers in Japan having many production areas across the prefecture including Makinohara plateau, the largest tea plantation. We will visit two tea facilities located in this area. You can enjoy the experience of tea ceremony and other hands-on activities.
As a Japanese Tea instructor, I hope I can be a help for you to fully enjoy this tea tour!
Kakegawa station or Shizuoka station
Meeting up with your guide, getting on a local train(14min) and taking a taxi(5min) from the closest station to the museum.
You can learn everything about tea, including a variety of tea cultures across the world, Japanese tea production and tea history. The museum has a tea house and a garden. You can experience a tea ceremony while learning how to do it.
The green tea mixed-in noodles are recommended here. It is healthy and nice.
Taking a taxi from the museum(20min).
It is an experience-based food park opened in Nov. 2020. Some hands-on activities are available here including "Green Tea B.I.Y. Stand" and "Green Tea Tours".
From Kadode, getting on trains back to Kakegawa station.
After the tour ends, the guide will help you get on the right train and see off at the station.
Kakegawa station or Shizuoka station
You can learn more about Japanese green tea and will come to like it more after the tour!
(1) In the World Tea Museum, you can learn about tea culture and history across the world and tea ceremony experience. It's located in Makinohara tea fields, so you can enjoy a great view, sometimes a veiw of Mt. Fuji, if the weather allows.
(2) In Kadode Oigawa, if you like, here are two activities you can try;
A) Green Tea B.I.Y.Stand: You can enjoy your cup of tea from 16 different kinds of green tea. They vary in type of tea and can be enjoyed more widely depending on how to brew, according to the temperature and the steeping time. After purchasing a special bottle(500yen), you can bring back your own type of tea.
B) Green Tea Tours: Why don’t you go through a tea factory as if you are a tea leaf. In this tour, you will be steamed, rubbed and roasted and become a final product. If you don’t mind about some water spray and an air blow, it will be a fun. The tour cost 500yen per person. A little tea cup will be given as a souvenir to all the participants and 4 kinds of green tea can be tasted in the end of the tour.
Tea is a major agricultural product in this area, but it's nice to have a look at other agricultural products. Beside the facility, Kadode Oigawa, an SL train runs three times a day, if the timing allows,
you may want to see it!
guide fee
■ Transportation fee(you and guide)
・When starting the tour from Kakegawa station: 940 yen/person
(From Kakegawa to Kanaya and Kadode to Kakegawa)
*In case of meeting Kakegawa station, it is appreciated to pay the transportation fee for the guide
to and from Kakegawa station(2,820yen) in cash on the day of the tour.
・When the tour start from Shizuoka station: 1,460yen/person
(A round-trip ticket of JR Tokaido line between Shizuoka and Kanaya and Kadode to Kanaya)
■ Taxi fare: about 3,100yen (From Kanaya station to Museum, From Museum to Kadode)
■ Tea Museum including tea ceremony: 800yen/person
■ Green Tea B.I.Y. Stand: 500yen/person
■ Green Tea Tours: 500yen/person
■ Lunch
I can guide you in cities other than Shizuoka if you pay my transportation fee.
The Tea Museum is closed on Tuesdays and Dec. 28 to Jan. 4. In case for that, I have other tea tour plans in different areas as well. Please feel free to ask it.
- In the experience of "Green Tea Tours", some water is used to splash around tour participants and the floor gets wet. So, it’s recommendable to wear flat and comfortable shoes.
- If you have any food allergy, please let me know in advance.
We can visit one of the facilities, the Tea Museum or Kadode Oigawa, or if you visit both of them, it will be a quick visit each and some of the activities will be omitted.
For a 4-hour tour, the guide fee will be 23,000yen.
In case for that, I have other tea tour plans in different areas as well. Please feel free to ask it.
Michael G.
Hiroyo provided us an incredible tour of the Fujinomiya area, and went above and beyond by helping us solve issues outside the scope of the tour! She was organized, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and had a great energy. She not only facilitated a tour of some amazing locations (with the tea farm being our favorite!) but she truly elevated the tour through her commentary, attitude, and visual aids. If you’re reading this and considering a tour of the area around Mt. Fuji, do not pass up a tour with Hiroyo!
Thank you very much for giving me such a great review! I’m so happy to hear that you and your friends enjoyed the tour here. I’ll tell your comment to the tea farm, they will be pleased as well. I hope you can fully enjoy the rest of the trip! If you have another chance to visit to Japan, I’m always happy to welcome you, hopefully with the goddess of Mt. Fuji like today!! Let me tell you again, thank you so much for having me as your guide! Hiroyo
Filippo R.
Our first time in Japan could not be better: learning about mount Fuji story, tasting top Japanese soba, entering the local natural amenities, enjoying Hiroko experience and kindness! Really thanks from our family!
Thank you very much for your warm review. Im happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the experience. I hope the your stay in Japan will be memorable. If you have another chance, I will welcome you hopefully with Mt. Fuji here! Thank you so much!! Hiroyo
Tanya M.
One of the best tours we have ever had by far. Hiroyo was prompt and made sure the tour was paced so we all could enjoy it as see as much as possible. The tea farm is lovely, and the owner is very nice. He described the plants, harvesting and how they process the leaves. It is a very informative tour, and the area is beautiful. Then you get to experience the tea. I cannot say enough about the tasting. We tasted tea over three ways and were able to taste snacks made from tea products. The owner's wife was so nice and answered all of our questions. We then had the opportunity to purchase lovely tea pots and products. We toured some of the sites in the town. It was lovely with great views of Mt. Fuji. We proceeded to a distillery tour. This was my husband's favorite. The tour guide was very knowledgeable of the distillery process and kind enough to answer all of my husband's questions about the history of Sake and best of all we got to taste many different kinds. Oue group age ranged from 27 to 55 and Hiroyo was very kind to ensure the pace of the tour was not too much for any of the members. She stopped whenever we asked for pictures and more information on many sites. Highly recommend this tour.
Dear Tanya, Thank you very much for your warm comments! It is always my great pleasure to welcome tea lovers here! Yes, as you mentioned, the tea farm couple is always very nice. Maybe because of the mild climate here in Shizuoka, local people are very kind. The tea grown with their great care naturally tastes great. Not only tea, but sake is also produced with all the blessings of Mt. Fuji. So I hope you can enjoy both of them at home now! If you have another chance to visit here, I’ll always welcome you! Thank you so much!! Best wishes, Hiroyo
Tanya M.
Hiroyo was a great tour guide. She worked with our family to come up with a tour itinerary that fit all of our needs. We are a family of three with vastly different interests, but Hiroyo was able to include something for everyone in the tour. Hiroyo speaks fluent English, is very tentative to your request and makes meeting easy. She was prompt and met us at our hotel to begin the tour early. We had four stops planned, and they were all great. She recommended the best transportation to ensure we were able to make all of our stops within our tight timeframe. The Toshogu Shrine was beautiful, and she was able to add historical information. The Museum was informative, and Hiroyo interpreted everything we needed to make the experience more fulfilling. Hiroyo was mindful of our walking pace ability and adjusted when needed. She also was able to adjust our lunch spot to accommodate my son's Japanese food exploration desires. I cannot say enough. I highly recommend her tour.
Dear Tanya, Thank you very much for your great comment! I’m so happy to hear from you that your family could enjoy the day! It was really nice for me as well to visit the places related to Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa in Shizuoka City with you who are very interested in the history. The city has more places to visit and more foods to enjoy as Shogun Ieyasu decided to spent the last years. If you’d like to taste another kinds, I’ll show you around the city anytime! Great thanks & Best wishes, Hiroyo