Honyama Tea Estate has the oldest history in the United Tea Estate of Shizuoka.

Honyama Tea Estate locates on the mountainside along with Abe River and its branch streams, such as Ashikubo River and Warashina River, in Shizuoka city.

The location of Honyama Tea Estate in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. Honyama Tea Estate locates on the mountainside along with Abe River and its branches.

Abe River and its big 2 branches. Ashikubo and Warashina River.

Honyama tea estate is the origin of the tea estates in Shizuoka prefecture. Shoichi Kokushi, the Buddhism priest in Kamakura era, brought seeds of tea plant from China and planted it on Ashikubo region, the upper stream of Ashikubo River. After his planting the tea seeds, the tea cultivation had been spread widely in Shizuoka prefecture. Now the areas surrounding Ashikuo Region has been developed as prominent tea producing districts, forming “Honyama Tea Estate”.

The characteristic of Honyama Tea Estate is the location on mountainsides along with clean streams, which contributes the excellent quality of loose leaf teas produced in Honyama Tea Estate, as shown in the below.

(1) Ashikubo region
Ashikubo region has the oldest history of tea industry in Shizuoka prefecture because this area is the first region where a high-class Buddhism monk “Shoichi Kokushi” brought seeds of tea plants. After the seeds of tea plants sown by the monk, tea cultivation had been spread to surrounding area, and at the result, the tea industry in the country “Suruga”, which is the old name of Shizuoka city, had become so famous that the poet “Matsuo Basho” composed a Haiku short poem due to his impression on the tea production in Suruga. And Ashikubo region had developed as one of the most prominent tea-growing areas as the green tea produced in Ashikubo region was offered constantly to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Ashikubo region is full of tea gardens and nature, as shown in the pictures below.

(2) Matsuno region

(3) Shinma region