Shizuoka Tour Packages and Vacations

Shizuoka Prefecture is located on the Pacific coast of central Honshu, between Tokyo and Osaka. It is best known for harvesting more tea and seafood than anywhere else in Japan and for its stunning natural scenery, including Mt. Fuji. Shizuoka Prefecture is also known as the home and resting place of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Japan's "Great Unifiers" and founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, which lasted nearly three centuries from 1603 to 1868. It is also the founding location of Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

Most trips to Shizuoka Prefecture begin in Tokyo, where the Tokaido Shinkansen connects travellers to the capital, Shizuoka City, in an hour or less, even offering views of Mt. Fuji along the way. Shizuoka Prefecture is also accessible by car, bus, and air via Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport.

Shizuoka City is defined by its tea, seafood, and historic shogun culture. Travellers will find teahouses throughout the city where they can indulge in the quintessential Japanese joy of drinking tea, with plenty of different variations and even tea-centred dishes, including soba buckwheat noodles), gelato, and waffles with matcha cream. Travellers will also find some of Japan's freshest seafood in Shizuoka City, including sweet and succulent cherry shrimp caught directly from Suruga Bay. Travellers can enjoy peaceful walks at the historic Sumpu Castle Park in the heart of the city, where shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu grew up as a hostage to a rival clan and spent his final years before his death in 1616. The Miho-n-Matsubara Pine Grove on the city's southern shores offers incredibly scenic views of Mt. Fuji, celebrated in Japanese art for centuries and helping it become part of the Mt. Fuji UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Across Suruga Bay to the east is the beautiful Izu Peninsula, known for its beaches, onsen (hot spring) towns, and outdoor activities. The peninsula is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and is home to two of Japan's best onsen towns: Atami and Ito. Izu's mountains and highlands offer incredibly scenic hiking, especially at Mt. Omuro, a distinctively green bowl-shaped inactive volcano. The port town of Shimoda, on the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula, played a pivotal role in the opening of Japan to the world after Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in the 1850s; the resulting Treaty of Kanagawa, signed in 1854, opened ports including Shimoda and effectively ended Japan's approximately 220-year period of national isolation. Travellers will also find some of Japan's best surfing and water sports near Shimoda at beaches like Shirahama Ohama Beach.