Shizuoka

Shizuoka exists in Fuji's shadow—literally and economically. Mount Fuji's snowmelt feeds aquifers that for centuries made this region Japan's tea capital, responsible for 40% of national production. The Tokaido road connecting Tokyo and Kyoto passed through here, making Shizuoka a rest stop where travelers drank tea and admired the mountain. That geographic logic still holds: Shizuoka sits on the bullet train line, midway between Japan's two great cities.

But 2024 marked a turning point. Kagoshima Prefecture, mechanizing production in warmer southern fields, overtook Shizuoka as Japan's top tea producer (27,000 tons vs 25,800). First-harvest tea production fell 19% in 2025. The decline mirrors Japan's broader agricultural crisis: aging farmers, young people leaving for cities, fields returning to forest. Yet matcha exports rose 17.5% in 2024—international demand growing as domestic consumption falls.

Shizuoka's response reveals adaptation strategies. New training programs prepare farm guides for international tourists. A roadside station opened as "food theme park." Fuji City continues gifting hand-rolled tea to residents turning 88—a 40-year tradition now reaching 1,700 people annually. By 2026, Shizuoka's bet is clear: pivot from commodity production to terroir tourism, selling the experience of tea under Fuji's gaze. The mountain that created the industry may save it.