Shizuoka Green Tea Way (Cha-do) & Mount Fuji Spring Tea Picking Heritage

Framed against the snowy grandeur of Mount Fuji and the warm Pacific breezes of Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture is the undisputed capital of Japanese green tea, cultivating approximately 40% of the nation’s tea acreage. This verdant heritage traces back to 1244 when Buddhist Zen master Ben’en (Shoichi Kokushi) carried heirloom Camellia sinensis seeds from Song Dynasty China to the Abe River valley. Following the 1868 Meiji Restoration, dispossessed samurai of the fallen Tokugawa shogunate cleared the dense wilderness of the Makinohara Plateau with their own hands, transforming rugged bluffs into Japan’s most expansive terraced tea plantation empire. Shizuoka’s defining technical contribution to tea culture is the revolutionary *Fukamushi-cha* (deep-steaming) processing method. Unlike conventional sencha steamed for 30 seconds, Shizuoka leaves are subjected to prolonged, high-pressure steam for 60 to 90 seconds. This ruptures leaf cellular structures, releasing elevated concentrations of chlorophyll, antioxidant catechins, and sweet theanine amino acids into the brew. The result is a signature opaque jade-green liquor celebrated for its rich, velvety umami body and remarkably sweet, mellow finish with virtually no astringency. In the surrounding foothills of Kakegawa, ancestral farming methods have earned formal recognition from the United Nations FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) through *Chagusaba Noho* (Traditional Tea-Grass Integrated Agriculture). Every autumn, farmers harvest wild native grasses (*Kaya*) from surrounding meadows to mulch tea furrows, enriching volcanic soils naturally while conserving endangered grassland orchids. Visitors can don traditional navy-blue *Kasuri* cotton tea-picker robes with red sashes to hand-harvest tender spring first-flush leaves (*Shincha*) while gazing upon Mount Fuji.