In which quarter house in Shizuoka?

Sleep at the foot of Mount Fuji in the green tea country? This is in which area to stay in Shizuoka!

Shizuoka is a capital city of the province of the province of the province of Honshu, halfway between Nagoya and Tokyo, and wet by the Pacific Ocean. Shizuoka is an important regional economic, educational, political and cultural centre and literally means quiet hill . Yet, the megalopolis is on an area where the risk of earthquake and tsunami is very high. Shizuoka was the homeland of the founder of Edo Shogunat (1604-1868), Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1615). The city is built in the middle of a lush nature offering beautiful escapades in all tranquility to the visitor. Shizuoka is world-renowned for its waterfalls, a hundred meters high, its fruit trees and its green tea, with fields of tea lost sight of the surrounding mountains and hills. Like all over Japan, rates to stay in Shizuoka are rather high.

Between the mountains to the north of the city and the urbanization, very dense, near the coast of the majority of the inhabitants, Shizuoka has some immanquables from Japan: the remains of the Senpu Castle, the Toro Archaeological Park, the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine or the temple Kiyomizu-dera . Here's our selection of areas to stay in Shizuoka.

Shizuoka Train Station

Around the very high-speed train station Shinkansen stretches out a neighbourhood where many classic hotels have been pushed to stay in Shizuoka and the west. The alleys of the neighborhood have a myriad of cafés, bars and restaurants to stroll around and take good time or taste the culinary charms of Japan, and many shops where to shop. Sengen Dori Street, northwest of the station, has a strong merchant soul. Overlooked by a torii, it is located in the promontory of Shizuhatayama Park and its cherry trees, shinto and Buddhist temples.

In the south of the district, there is the immanquable Château Senpu and its park surrounded by the ancient Doves. In this district of Suruga-Ku, don’t forget to visit the Toro archaeological park and the Kunō-zan Tōshō-gū, a shinto sanctuary – tomb of I. Tokugawa -, the oldest Tōshō-gū sanctuary in the country. Staying west of Shizuoka makes it possible to discover modern and developed Japan, living at a frantic pace at the foot of modern architecture and where it makes good living.

Shimizu Train Station

Built east towards Shimizu Station, stretches another city centre of Shizuoka: it is a former traditional fishermen’s village that has been transformed into an industrial and commercial city. It offers a splendid view of Mount Fuji. We go there for its seafood, certainly fresh. Getting to the beach of Miho no Matsubara along Suruga Bay is a must in the city, allowing to forget the industrial port and its endless activity. In reality, Shizuoka’s second city centre is a former independent city that merged with Shizuoka in 2003 and a population of 233,184 inhabitants: Shimizu. No wonder that staying in Shimizu offers a different atmosphere.

Main photo credit: Max Pixel