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A historic small town, “Hanazawa no sato”

2022-07-21T22:15:00+09:00

“Hanazawa no sato” is a small village with about 30 houses in a mountain located in the northern part of Yaizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture, where we can see beautiful landscapes with untouched nature and old buildings of traditional styles.

In 2014, this picturesque site was designated as an Important Traditional Buildings Preservation District of Japan.
Old residential buildings with white-wall storehouses and Nagaya-mon gates create nostalgic atmosphere, and as strolling, we can enjoy the feeling as if we have slipped back in time to more than 100 or 200 years ago.
(Nagaya-mon gates are gates combined with residential buildings and sometimes called Samurai-style gates since they were often seen built with feudal loads’ houses during the Edo period so that they could have their subordinates live in the gate houses.)

In the village, there is also a cozy café we can rest and enjoy hand-made sweets and a visitor center equipped with clean and high-tech toilets. We can find various local vegetables and fruits sold at some unattended stands along the walking course, too.

I think that “Hanazawa no sato” is a perfect place for us to spend a refreshing holiday away from daily rush.
Please come and see this beautiful village. We are looking forward to guiding you there. (A.K.)

A workshop in December

2020-01-06T15:50:00+09:00

The area known as Enshu, which is in the western part of Shizuoka prefecture, is the place where world-famous companies, such as Yamaha, Honda, Toyota, and Suzuki, were born. In the study meeting, we shared our thoughts and knowledge about the attractive founders of those companies, challenges and struggles they experienced to develop their businesses, our individual experience with their products, such as cars, bikes, and pianos. As local people in Shizuoka, we actually have a lot of stories regarding those industries and products in our daily lives. People in Enshu are often said to have a powerful characteristic so called the let’s-do-it spirit. Please visit Hamamatsu to feel it and find the reason why those industries were originated and developed in this region. (A.K)

Cruise-Ship Shore Excursions from Shimizu Port in Shizuoka

2019-01-16T13:45:00+09:00

We would like to show our gratitude to all those who visit our site, Shizuoka. We especially had many visitors in Cruise Ship tours last year and are expecting more this year. We can tell you that Shimizu port in Shizuoka is one of the most attractive port in Japan for your shore excursions. If you do not want to miss pretty scenery including Mt. Fuji, extensive green tea fields, and old historic sites related to famous Samurai warriors, please come and see us at Shimizu port in Shizuoka. We are looking forward to supporting your visit there! (A.K.)

Ise-Shima Summit

2016-07-27T15:50:00+09:00

The ‘G7 2016 Ise-Shima Summit’ was held in Ise-Shima, Mie prefecture on May 26-27. Six members of our Association FUSION were dispatched to support and accommodate the foreign press and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as language personnel.

We departed Shizuoka the day before and participated in the orientation.

The security was so strict that police officers stood on the roads every 50-100m. And also all the people who entered the area were subjected to a strict check almost the same as airport security. There were a lot of security personnel who had keen eyes everywhere in the area. In particular, on the last day of Summit when the conferences of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, Prime Minister Cameron of UK and Prime Minister Orlando of France were held at the hotels, a number of security personnel and members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were very serious and the atmosphere was filled with tension.

It was a pity that we didn’t have a good opportunity to use English, but we had a very valuable experience in that we were able to be a part of such a big international event which we had often seen on TV.

Sunset View in Ise-Shima

Ise Grand Shrine

Searching for the goddess of Mt. Fuji

2015-06-30T18:00:00+09:00

The end of June is the middle of the rainy season in Japan.

I joined to Shu Hui-san, a photographer from Singapore to go to scenic spots around Shizuoka city to view Mt. Fuji.

I just hoped that we could enjoy the great view in the rainy season.

On that day, the first place we visited was Miho-no-Matsubara(Miho Pine Grove), which is part of the designated Mt. Fuji World Heritage Site. About 30,000 pine trees extend 7 km along Miho Peninsula. The spectacular view of the sea, the pine grove and Mt. Fuji has been an inspiration for artists since ancient times.

I knew that the goddess of the mountain was shy in June and it was so exciting when we found the misty but elegant view of Mt. Fuji! She was there, waiting for us, smiling at us. This is the picture I took.

Another picture from Miho is a long path with old pine trees on both sides, leading from the sea to Miho Shrine where the Ocean god is enshrined. The path is called “the God’s Approach”.

The next place we visit was Nihondaira, a 300m high hill which is famous for its magnificent views of Mt. Fuji, Shimizu port, Suruga Bay and Miho Peninsula.
The goddess was getting shy, but still giving us a mysterious smile.
The photo is from the Ocha-kaikan on Nihondaira where a view of Mt. Fuji can be seen over the green tea fields.

This is from Nippondaira Hotel.
With its hilltop location, the hotel commands an amazing view of Mt. Fuji. It has some restaurants, a café and a souvenir shop. It is a good place to have a break while enjoying the scenery.

One of the good things about visiting here in the rainy season is the opportunity to see the colorful hydrangeas in full bloom♪ Shu Hui-san liked them very much!

After coming back to Shizuoka Station, we visited a Matcha(green tea) ice cream shop on Shu Hui-san’s request. The shop, called “Nanaya”, is popular for its Matcha ice cream, which comes in seven different varieties based on its density. I was very surprised to experience the difference! Apart from the Mathca ice cream, there are several other great tasting ice cream, such as the Hojicha(roast tea) flavor, Genmaicha(roast tea with popped brown rice) flavor, black sesame flavor and more!

After enjoying the ice cream we went back to the station, dropping by some shops on the way. We looked at some shops selling local specialties from Shizuoka such as green tea, wasabi and kamaboko(fish pastry cake).

I really hope that Shu Hui-san enjoy this half-day tour around Shizuoka city. When she returned to Singapore she kindly emailed me to say she wants to visit again, the next time maybe in winter. Yes, winter is a good season to take a picture of Mt. Fuji when the top is covered with a snow cap.

Thank you very much, Shu Hui-san!

You are always welcome here. Mt. Fuji and Shizuoka are looking forward to your next visit!!

(By Hiro )
＊Not only Hiro but also other FUSION members can guide you through these places!

Please contact us if you are interested in this itinerary.

Tea Tour in Makinohara

2014-07-30T18:00:00+09:00

On a hot day in July 2014, we had guests from Scotland, a mother and her son who presented the tour to her as her special birthday present. Since they were interested in Japanese green tea, they chose one day to visit a tea plantation area in Shizuoka (Japan’s biggest tea producer) during their stay in Japan. Makinohara plateau is one of the major tea plantations in Japan. It looks looks like a huge green carpet !

Our tour started from JR Kanaya Station. A taxi is useful to go around the area. The first visit was one of the tea related facilities in Makinohara, Grinpia. It took about 20 minutes by taxi. A very nice and kind staff, Mr. Shimazu showed us around the tea factory to learn about the whole process of making green tea. Then, we tried tea picking in the tea field, wearing a special costume for tea picking. As you see in the pictures, she looks very nice in the costume !

Girinpia has a a traditional Japanese style restaurant (a 140-year house has been remodeled into a restaurant). We enjoyed lunch there. Cha-Soba (buckwheat noodles with green tea powder mixed in) and tea leaf tempura are the most popular. Give them a try !

The next visit was The World Tea Museum (Ocha-no-Sato), it is about 15minutes away from Grinpia by taxi. It is a tea museum presenting a variety of tea cultures from across the world and it has a tea house and a garden. We can learn everything about tea there. It must be an exciting experience for them to have an authentic tea ceremony. You don’t have to worry about formalities too much. The tea master (the host of the tea ceremony) will make the ceremony relaxing and enjoyable for visitors. You see their smiles in the picture.

I was really happy to hear from them that they'd enjoyed a lot on the day ! It was my great pleasure to be with you ! Thank you very much !

(By Hiro)

＊Not only Hiro but also other FUSION members can guide you through this itinerary !
Contact us if you are interested.

Field to Table Tea Tour

2014-07-30T10:00:00+09:00

This specialized tea tour was realized after receiving an e-mail inquiry about tea tours from university students from abroad, thanks to (a travel agency in Shizuoka). We were very happy to know that they were interested in Japanese green tea and that they had decided to spend one day here in Shizuoka to visit tea-related places during their stay in Japan. We believe that the tour was a good opportunity for them to gain an insight into the tea industry by direct contact with tea experts.

Ms. Sakano(the President of Soft-Labo) and I were excited to welcome them at their hotel near Shizuoka station. After picking them up, we left for our first visit site, Moriuchi Tea Farm by bus.

At Moriuchi Tea Farm, the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Moriuchi, warmly welcomed us. They showed us one of their tea fields where they grow the best quality tea, which is entered in tea competitions and usually wins awards. First, we tried picking tea as Mr. Moriuchi explained to us how to pick up tea leaves and then, had a look at tea processing factory that makes Aracha. Aracha is a half-finished product(picked-up leaves are steamed, rubbed, twisted and kneaded while heated and dried). Then, we were invited to their traditional Japanese style house to have a cup of tea. We tried different types of tea with Japanese sweet cake and learned a lot about tea from a Q&A session with Mr.&Mrs. Moriuchi. They were so nice and we will miss them greatly.

We came back to “Chamachi” or “Tea Town” which is near Shizuoka downtown area. Our next visit Shizuoka Tea Market is just located there which is the largest tea market in Japan.

Aracha is brought into and traded at the market and purchased by tea wholesalers. The day we visited was at the end of July, so there was no trading, but they kindly welcomed us to tell us about the tea trade and showed us various kinds of tea and how to evaluate them. Tea professionals have developed a nose for tea. It was a valuable experience for us.

After learning more about tea, we tried Oden as lunch.

Oden is Japanese popular food. Various ingredients such as vegetables and fish cakes are boiled and simmered slowly in a fish-based broth seasoned with soy sauce. Shizuoka Oden is one of the local specialties. The characteristics are; it is stewed in a darker broth, darker-colored Hanpen(pastry fishcakes) from sardine meat are used as an ingredient, and each ingredient is skewered and stewed in a special pan. Children and students in Shizuoka frequently drop by an Oden Shop nearby after school. It is “the taste of street” in our city. It was a very hot day, so they enjoy Kakigori(a bowl of shaved ice with sweat flavored syrup), as well.

Around Shizuoka Tea Market there are many tea-related businesses including tea wholesalers. We visited Maeda Kinzaburo Shoten, one of the tea wholesalers with nearly a hundred years history. After purchasing Aracha, tea wholesalers refine them into final products. We had a look at their refining factory. Maeda Kinzaburo Shoten also has a tea room where visitors can try many kinds of tea with some sweets. They came up with new sweet products using tea as an ingredient. One of the most popular ones is “Chaffle”, a waffle-like sweet with tea flavored crème instead of custard crème. There are a variety of tea flavors. Everyone was so impressed with this original sweet.

After leaving the tea wholesaler, we walked through a downtown street back to the hotel.
I hope that our guests really enjoyed visiting the places on ‘the field to table’ tea tour. And I hope that they have another opportunity to visit Shizuoka! Thank you☆

(By Hiro)

Although this itinerary is currently unavailable in our tour line-ups, contact us anyway if you are interested.