Makinohara Daichaen

This tea garden spans the area between the plains downriver on the Oigawa river and the Kiku River. A vast green-colored carpet spreads on top of a plateau at an elevation of 100 to 200 meters. The tea garden got its start when samurai traveling with the Tokugawa clan abandoned their swords and started cultivating. Then, Kawagoshi-ninsoku (coolies crossing a river on foot) pitched in, and the local farmers eventually took over, and the garden developed into Japan's biggest tea garden. Currently, it comprises 40% of the tea production in Shizuoka. From the Makinohara Park located in one area, you can see the Oi river below, and on a clear day, you can see out to Mt. Fuji and Suruga Bay.