Wazuka, a town in southern Kyoto Prefecture, is famous for its production of exquisite green tea. This town has an 800-year history of making high-quality Uji tea. Visit Wazuka on a day trip to see its scenic tea fields and enjoy various types of tea, as well as tea cuisine and matcha art.
Tea-Themed Day Trip to Wazuka, the Home of Green Tea
Kyoto is known and cherished for its traditional culture. There are several towns and cities in southern Kyoto Prefecture that boast a rich tea culture and history. With souvenir shops and cafes offering green tea just about everywhere you look, it might be challenging to decide where to go.
Those looking for a new experience should head to Wazuka. Considered to be the “hometown of green tea,” Wazuka is where Ujicha, a high-quality type of green tea that remains prized today, originated from. The tea history and culture of Ujicha in Wazuka go back around 800 years. Designated as one of Japan’s most beautiful villages, the dramatic, sloped tea fields remain today a breathtaking sight for all who visit.
Get your camera ready and continue reading to learn what to do on a day trip in this gorgeous area!
How to Get to Wazuka from Kyoto Station
Getting to Wazuka requires a train and bus ride, taking a little over one hour in total via public transit. From JR Kyoto Station, take the rapid Miyako service on the JR Nara Line, bound for Nara. Get off at Kizu Station and change lines to the rapid train on the Kansai Main Line bound for Kamo Station. From Kamo Station, take the number 66 Nara Kotsu bus bound for Wazukacho Kosugi.
The stop where you should get off differs depending on the facility where you want to go first.
Morning: See the Picturesque Ishitera Tea Fields
Picture courtesy of Ocha no Kyoto DMO
Tea fields are in every corner of Wazuka, but perhaps the most famous is the Ishitera Tea Field. The bright green, impossibly-steep fields here are iconic of what you will find everywhere in this town. Depending on the time, you may see farmers at work, riding in tiny trucks and cars, tending to the fields to keep the tea plants healthy and manicured perfectly. You can admire and appreciate their hard work from afar.
Visitors are not permitted to enter the tea fields, as they are the private property of the farmers. However, you can take pictures and walk around them. Those wanting to go into the fields and get a closer look at the fields or climb up the slopes can do so on a tour.
The climate in Wazuka and its surrounding regions are ideal for tea production, with a stark difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, and fog that rolls in the mornings, shielding the delicate buds from the sun. Tea in Wazuka is harvested three times per year: once in spring, once in summer, and once in autumn.
The bright green tea shrubs are a type of camellia that produces what we know as tea. Only the top two buds are taken and processed into tea. If you see tarps on the hillsides, they are for shading the plants to produce a bolder, savory flavor.
To get to Ishitera in Wazuka, take the bus from JR Kamo Station to Wazuka Takahashi bus stop (the ride takes around 8 minutes). From the bus stop, walk up the path ahead and you’ll see the tea fields right before your eyes.
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 …
