Shizuoka Estancias para Foodies

Our wonderful hosts showed us how tea is processed from bush to drink and made us 2 stunning seasonal meals using tea in different forms that we had picked ourselves. A unique experience in the Japanese countryside We appreciated the warm hospitality

This was the most incredible travel experience I have ever had in my life!!! Koichi-san and Kyoko-san are so incredibly kind, and Koichi-san is the PERFECT guide! He brought us to so many interesting places, and we had so many cups of incredible tea. (We lost count after 15 hahaha). Their home is absolutely gorgeous as a beautiful traditional Japanese home but also with modern amenities like modern bathroom and AC. It was a beautiful, and we were so so comfortable. We loved every part of the experience. The best part was their outstanding homemade cooking. I will be having dreams about how good it was!! So artfully plated - incredible aesthetic but also so delicious and unique. Out of everything we did in our 2 week vacation around Japan, this stood out the most, and we are telling all our friends about this experience. Highly, highly recommend!! It doesn't get better than this!!

Koichi and Kyoko are wonderful hosts. Picking, rolling, and roasting our own sencha (green tea) was an absolute highlight of our trip to Japan . Koichi is a wonderful and accommodating tour guide. And Kyoko’s food is out of this world! If you like tea, do this! We’d also recommend going to the tea museum near Kakegawa on your way home.

We had a lovely time learning about the area and Tea. Both dinner and breakfast were beautifully presented and had amazing flavors. I really enjoyed learning how to pick and dry the tea leaves. I would recommend this experience.

An amazing experience! The ryokan is simply amazing and the houseki and houmoku outdoor onsens are one of a kind. We also really appreciated the novelty of the rooms and the private baths in each of the rooms we were allocated. Each room has a ton of character and is very comfortable. The inn itself is beautiful and really takes advantage of the natural surroundings. Definitely enquire about the wasabi experience. Our guide (Chiharu) was so wonderful and we got to pick our own wasabi and had some freshly ground wasabi on delicious rice that they prepared on the spot. Be warned that its not really accessible for anyone with mobility issues - but if you are up to it, its a one of a kind experience.

We were not 100% sure what to expect with this tour but it was such a fun and unique experience. There could be a bit more detail in the tour description but nothing that could change our minds on the amazing time we had! Everyone from our guide who picked us up at the train station to the farmer who shared his harvest with us, to our camp hosts were amazing. The tour gave us a great view into the Japanese countryside that we would have never seen otherwise. Waking up in the morning, opening up the tent to look out and see Mt Fuji was a moment we will never forget.