Shizuoka ShimADA, Shizuoka — is located in the country's largest tea growing area, the Makinohara Plateau in central-west Shizuoka Prefecture, the Tea MuseumTea Museum, Shizuoka introduces the history and culture of tea both from Japan and abroad in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The origin of tea drinking dates back to before the beginning of the Christian era. Tea was apparently originating in and around Yunnan Province in China and spread to neighboring countries during the Tang dynasty.
The museum's permanent exhibition is dedicated to introducing various kinds of tea from around the globe, along with historical information about tea. There is also a display of 60 different varieties of tea leaves from all over the world, such as Darjeeling from India and Dong Ding Oolong tea from Taiwan. Visitors can touch the leaves and smell their aromas, and it is nice to find your favorite.
In the early ninth century tea was brought by a monk who returned from Tang-dynasty China to Japan, where he studied Buddhism. Among the exhibits related to tea in Japan, the one that attracted my attention was writings about tea by Buddhist monk Eisai 1141 -- 1215 who founded the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism based on what he learned in Song-dynasty China. Kissa Yojoki is the first specialist book on tea in Japan. The title means a report on recuperation by drinking tea. There is a line in the book that says tea is an elixir for recuperation, a spell for longevity. Today we know about catechins and other ingredients that make tea good for health, but it surprises me that tea was already considered good for health at the time Eisai lived.
Visitors can learn about the history of tea and its development in Shizuoka Prefecture in detail, as a local museum.
Tea was introduced to Shizuoka when high-ranking Buddhist priest Shoichikokushi 1202 -- 80, who was born in what is now Shizuoka City, sowed tea seeds he had brought back from China. According to Mitsuru Shirai, museum's deputy director, there was a particularly important incident that aided the development of tea in the prefecture during its long history: the cultivation of the Makinohara Plateau. When the Tokugawa shogunate fell at the end of the Edo period 1603 -- 1867 samurai officials who worked for the shogunate lost their jobs. They began working on a wasteland on the plateau, joined by people who used to help travelers cross the Oi River. Together, they laid the foundation for the vast tea gardens of Shizuoka Prefecture, which now produces about 40% of domestic tea.
During the course of history, tea has become a long-lasting culture, according to Shirai. I hope the museum is a facility that conveys all the good things about it. Tea is familiar to people in Japan. After learning about tea at the museum, the cup you drink may taste different than before.
The predecessor of the museum, Shimada-shi Ocha no Sato, was renovated and opened in March 2018 as the Tea MuseumTea Museum, Shizuoka, which is run by the prefecture.
Hours are closed on Tuesdays and the following weekday when a national holiday falls on a Tuesday and year-end and New Year holidays.
Admission is 300 for adults, including non-student teenagers aged 15 or older. Free admission for university students or younger students, elderly people aged 70 or older, and the disabled.