Farm Stay & Tea Experience w/ Dinner & Breakfast (Shizuoka)

Trade the bustle of Tokyo for the terraced green tea farms of Shizuoka, Japan's tea capital. Taste rural life as you tour a tea farm, pick tea leaves with local farmers, roast the leaves on an iron kettle (a traditional method known as kama-yaki) to prepare tea, prepare a local specialty with local ingredients, relax overnight in a rural inn, and, of course, sip on lots of fresh tea! No two days are the same in the fields, nor in this experience, the contents of which vary depending on the season in the tea-production calendar. During the four harvesting seasons in the year, you will tour the tea fields and pick leaves with help from local farmers. You'll prepare tea the traditional way by roasting the leaves in an iron kettle (a process known as kama-yaki) and enjoy a refreshing cup of your own making. For dinner, you’ll learn to make a local soup with deep umami flavors with Japanese yam, a broth made with mackerel and miso, dried bonito flakes, and shiitake mushrooms. Enjoy a relaxing bath at a traditional Goemon rustic tub, and relax your body and spirit as you bask in the area's lush rural surroundings. The following morning, wrap up your farm stay experience with a traditional Japanese breakfast homemade by your hosts. Although exact times vary each year, harvesting seasons typically are as follows: -Late April to May -June -Mid-July to early August -Late September to mid-October No matter the season, it’s always tea time in Shizuoka! On rainy days or outside harvesting season, guests will make tea following the kama-yaki method with previously picked leaves. Hosts have designed year-round activities to ensure this experience will be as enjoyable and invigorating as a cup of Japan’s finest tea all year round.