Now, let’s go get our bicycles. After returning to the road, cross it and enter Wazuka-cha Café. As well as being a café that serves meals and snacks, this is also a store that sells hundreds of tea-related products, including various types of single-origin tea from around 30 Wazuka plantations. The facility also acts as a visitors’ center, where you can get maps and information, and rent a bicycle.
The bikes feature electronic assistance, which makes navigating the hilly landscape of Wazuka a breeze. It costs 1,100 yen a day for one bicycle. You can ask for one at the Wazuka-cha Café counter, but bookings are recommended, especially during the town’s busiest periods in early May and November. A direct message via Instagram is the best way to book (see store details below). The staff understands simple English.
When you leave Wazuka-cha Café, turn right and ride up the hill. Head for the Ishitera Tea Plantation by following the Japan Heritage signposts that periodically appear by the side of the road.
At first the route takes you past locals’ houses, giving you a glimpse of their daily lives. Occasionally you will see some very old homes and pass some tea-processing factories, but before long, the turn of a corner will suddenly reveal the breathtaking scenery of a rolling field of tea plants.
Wazukacha Cafe
Wazukacha Cafe, in Wazuka Town, is located near the town office and the Wazuka-yamanoie bus stop. You can get tourist maps and information here, making it a great first stop on your trip. The inviting …
One of the most stunning views along the way is of the Erihara tea fields. Look for the low, green Japan Heritage sign marking this spot. The view here reaches down from a tea farm in the foreground, to orderly rows of tea lining the other side of a valley and up again onto distant hillsides.
Stop 5: Ishitera Tea Plantation
A 15-minute bike ride from Wazuka-cha Café takes you to one of Wazuka’s most iconic landscapes, the Ishitera Tea Plantation. This area, in particular, is noted in the designation as a Kyoto Scenic Asset, highlighting its representation of the livelihood of tea production, as huts and houses dot the landscape of rows of green tea.
A great place to relax and refuel while enjoying the view here is dan dan café. It sits on the roadside overlooking the plantation and serves lunch, tea, parfaits and gelato.
Shirasu and Ishitera Tea Plantations
Wazuka Town gradually warms up from west to east in spring. In Ishitera and nearby places, located in the western part of Wazuka, tea picking begins no later than late April. Therefore, the tea planta …
Another option for lunch is Wazuka-ya, which specializes in tea-infused buckwheat noodles (soba in Japanese), including the option to make your own. This experience is particularly popular with families and children. It’s easy to miss the tight righthand turn-off toward Wazuka-ya, which comes during a descent in the road after the Ishitera Tea Plantation, so be careful.
The noodle-making experience takes only about 30 minutes and is easy and fun, even for children. You start by using your hand to mix together wheat flour and buckwheat flour, together with ground sencha tea from Wazuka. Water is then added gradually as you mix the ingredients. Then knead the dough, roll it out, and cut it into thin strips. The result is a large serve of springy noodles garnished with dried seaweed. Enjoy them by adding spring onion and spicy wasabi to the accompanying soy-based, dipping sauce.
If you’re content to jump straight into eating noodles rather than the making of them, you can order store-made tea noodles. The most popular menu item here is the Sanho Soba Set, Combine three tiers of tea soba with different condiments, which gives you three tiers of store-made, tea-infused buckwheat noodles and different sets of condiments to add to each bowl so that you enjoy a variety of flavors in the one dish. Popular Wazuka-ya side dishes include tempura and deep-fried tofu.
Wazuka-ya details:
• Open: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Last order: 2:00 p.m.) Closed Monday and Thursday
• Address: Ishitera Hatsuohira 21, Wazuka-cho, Soraku, Kyoto Prefecture
• Access: 3-minute walk from Wazuka Takahashi bus stop
• Website:https://wazuka.fujiya-taiken.com/
