Shizuoka is known for many things in Japan, most of all Mount Fuji, but followed closely by green tea! The mountainous and wet environment makes it a perfect place for growing delicious tea… and the tea fields look pretty good as you drive by on the highway or ride by on the train or shinkansen.
Tea from Kagoshima Prefecture and Mie Prefecture is also highly regarded.
The picture you see below is of tea fields on tea plantations near the highway in Shizuoka. Ito En, a company that produces over 20% of the tea in Japan is located a bit up the highway from these two fields so they may in some way be affiliated.
Now for the good stuff!
NOTE the fans that are spread out through the fields… can you guess what they are for?
The fans push warm air back down to the plants to prevent frost and try to keep the temperatures of all the tea bushes as consistent as possible. Apparently the tea’s flavor is affected if the bushes frost over or if the ground they are in gets too cold.
