Shizuoka Tea Country

Shizuoka grows roughly a third of Japan's tea, more than any other prefecture, and the industry dates in its current form to the 1870s, when former samurai left without positions after the shogunate ended were resettled on the Makinohara plateau and put to clearing scrub for tea. The bushes are planted in close parallel rows that follow the contour, clipped into rounded hedges, and on the slopes around Nihondaira and the Kawane valley the rows run downhill with Fuji or the sea behind them, which is the photograph. Ichibancha, the first flush picked from late April, is the crop that matters; later pickings are cheaper and coarser. Some fields still use chagusaba, a traditional practice of mulching with grass cut from adjacent semi-natural grassland, which is recognised as a globally important agricultural heritage system for the biodiversity it maintains.

What you actually see

• A third of Japan's tea - contour-planted rows clipped into rounded hedges.
• Fuji behind the rows - the standard view from the Nihondaira slopes on a clear day.
• A samurai resettlement - the Makinohara plateau cleared for tea from the 1870s.
• Chagusaba mulching - grass-cut mulch from adjacent grassland, recognised as heritage farming.

When to go

Late April to May for the first flush and picking. A day; a car is essential.

Honest expectations

The fields are working farmland and are not laid out for visitors - stay on roads and paths. A car is needed and the lanes are narrow. Fuji is hidden much of the year. Picking experiences are seasonal and book ahead.

Nearby

Shizuoka city and Miho no Matsubara are east; the Oigawa railway runs north.