Weekly News Digest
産経オンライン英会話 ニュースディスカッション教材
Green fields of tea ー almost ready to be harvested ー extend out across the mountain at an altitude of 350 meters. Seat yourself on a wooden terrace built right into the middle of the tea field, and enjoy your own monopoly on the view of fresh greenery that spreads out below.
The “Tea Room in the Sky” (Houkouen) is on a terrace overhanging the steep slopes of the tea fields in Shizuoka City’s Shimizu ward. It’s a popular spot for visitors where, depending on the season and weather, you can see Mt. Fuji or a sea of clouds.
It is one of the Cha no Ma (Tea Rooms) offered at six green tea plantations in Shizuoka Prefecture as an experiential attraction for tourists. The program lets you enjoy green tea carefully selected from tea leaves harvested from the fields right in front of you. The project started two years ago and has been enjoyed so far by about 3500 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s.
The tea rooms are managed by the Suruga Marketing and Tourism Bureau (Shizuoka City), which promotes tourism in the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Kyoka Suzuki, 28, who has been involved in the program since its planning stages, says, “Having grown up drinking Shizuoka’s green tea myself, I wanted to do something about the declining demand for tea leaves. I hope that young people who are not familiar with drinking tea served in a teapot can also learn how wonderful it can be.”
Becoming known as places where you can enjoy the great beauty of Nature, the Cha no Ma they are popular as recreational spots where you can avoid the “Three Cs” (closed places, close conversations and crowded spaces). Paloma Saizu, 24, who was visiting from Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture says, “I was looking for ways to spend my off-days amid the coronavirus outbreak. In the middle of Nature you’re surrounded by no one, which is so soothing, and the tea is also delicious.”
Advance reservations are necessary.Although currently there are restrictions on visitors coming from areas that are under a COVID-19 state of emergency, some of the tea room terraces are fully booked a month in advance.
The newly discovered charm of tea drinking is becoming a trend in Shizuoka, a prefecture known for green tea. The full experience can be enjoyed by using all five of your senses, while listening to the birds chirping and feeling the winds blowing across the spectacular tea fields.
収穫間近の茶畑が標高３５０メートルの山あいに広がる。畑の真ん中にしつらえた木製テラスに座れば、眼下に広がる新緑を独り占めできる。
静岡市清水区にある「天空の茶の間」（豊好園〈ほうこうえん〉）は急斜面の茶畑にせり出すようなテラスで、季節と天候によっては富士山や雲海も見られる人気の場所だ。
静岡県内６カ所の茶畑で提供している体験プログラム「茶の間」の一つで、目の前の畑で採れた茶葉から厳選したお茶が楽しめる。２年前に始まり、これまで２０、３０代を中心に約３５００人が利用している。
茶の間は同県中部の観光振興に取り組む「するが企画観光局」（静岡市）が運営する。企画から関わる鈴木杏佳さん（２８）は「自分が静岡のお茶を飲んで育ってきたので、近年の茶葉需要の低下をなんとかしたかった。急須でお茶を飲む習慣がない若い人にも良さを知ってほしい」と話す。
自然を満喫できる茶の間は「３密」を回避できるレジャーとしても注目される。同県磐田市から訪れた才津パロマさん（２４）は「コロナ禍の休日の過ごし方を探していた。誰もいない自然の中で気持ち良く、お茶もおいしい」と話した。
事前予約制で現在は緊急事態宣言などの対象地域の利用者を制限しているが、１カ月先まで予約が埋まるテラスもあるという。
名産地・静岡で広まる新たなお茶の魅力。絶景の茶畑で風に吹かれ鳥のさえずりを聞きながら、五感で味わってもらいたい。