Shizuoka Tea Plantation Tour w/ Tea Picking & Tasting

Japan’s greatest green tea producer, Shizuoka Prefecture has vast green fields of tea plantations only a few hours by train from Tokyo. In this experience in a local tea-producing area in Shizuoka, you’ll enjoy a guided tour of a tea plantation, sample tea and tempura made with the tea leaves you pick, and learn all about Shizuoka’s unique tea production from leaf to cup from the farmers themselves. You’ll start the day at Tabinoya, a former tea farmer's house repurposed into a lodging and local experience provider. Here, you’ll meet your guide, who will give you an overview of the day's itinerary, but not before offering you a fresh cup of 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, guests enjoy a tour of tea fields where they can pick leaves to prepare tea and deep fry them in a batter to enjoy them as tempura. 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 Guests taking part between November and February can join farmers in planting tea sustainably, a unique local practice known as chagusaba, which ensures that the local prolific tea production doesn't tamper with biodiversity, for which the area's fields were designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). On rainy days or outside planting and harvesting season, guests instead experience kamairicha, a traditional way of preparing tea by drying the leaves and firing them to enhance flavors. No matter the season, it’s always tea time in Shizuoka! Hosts have designed year-round activities to ensure this experience will be as enjoyable and invigorating as a cup of Japan’s finest tea, no matter when you decide to participate.