Soft Laboratory provides a service of observation tour to Shizuoka Tea Market. In this year 2018, the service has been started from 22nd April and will be provided till 13th May.

Shizuoka Tea Market starts the daily trades for crude teas produced in Shizuoka prefecture from 6:30 a.m., so visitors should meet up at 6:00 a.m. at the entrance of Shizuoka Tea Market, called as “Shizuoka Cha Ichiba” in Japanese.

In the tour, we can experience 5 programs as follows.

(1) Observation of the tea trade transaction.
We can see the negotiation transaction among buyers, sellers and the market mediator. The unique feature of Shizuoka Tea Market is the presence of market mediator, who has special ability to evaluate the quality and characteristics of crude tea and judge the change of demand-supply balance in/around Shizuoka Tea Market.
(2) Checking the appearance.
The market staff explain how check the appearance of crude tea on the black observation tray.
(3) Explanation by the former CEO.
The former CEO of Shizuoka Tea Market explains the characteristics of trades in the market and each tea estates in Shizuoka.

(4) Breakfast in the cafeteria popular among tea businesses.
The tour conductor take participants to the cafeteria where many tea business gather to eat breakfast. We can enjoy a set of rice and “Tonjiru” soup, which is a miso soup containing pork meat.

(5) Strolling the tea business district “Chamachi”.
At the end, tour conductor guides participants through the tea business district “Chamachi”, where we can look many tea retail shop managed by tea blenders, tea processors and tea merchants etc..

We can know more details and register the Shizuoka Tea Market Observation in the website below.
Shizuoka Tea Market Observation announced by Tourism Shizuoka Japan.

Let’s enjoy Shizuoka Tea Market and Chamachi!