From Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport to the Kawane tea fields: an honest 3-day plan

You land at 9:30 in the morning after a night flight. You're tired, a little giddy, and somewhere outside the terminal there's a plateau of tea fields with, on a clear day, Mt. Fuji behind it.

So can you be standing in those fields that same day, picking tea on a farm the next, and still catch the morning flight home on day three? Yes, with one honest catch up front: the farm day can't happen on the day you arrive. It starts at 8:30 the next morning in Kakegawa, so arrival day is for you to wander on your own.

Here's how we'd lay out the three days, built around Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport (FSZ), which sits in the Makinohara tea country in the middle of Shizuoka Prefecture.

Landing: what to do first

Most people arriving from overseas will want cash, a SIM or eSIM, and a bit of breathing room before anything else. The bus into the tea country leaves from the airport's bus stop for JR Kanaya Station. As of November 2026, the airport's own timetable shows the Kanaya service (it's a roughly 15-minute ride, about 500 yen for adults, and card or IC payment is accepted). Given immigration and baggage, plan on the bus leaving around 10:30 rather than the very first one after you land.

There's also a Shimada line, but it doesn't help us on the way home (more on that in a moment), so Kanaya is the one to remember.

If you're flying in with big suitcases, think about sending them ahead to your hotel. Our guide to luggage forwarding in Japan explains how. And a small warning for later: the railway you'll ride on day one doesn't seem to say it takes transit IC cards, so keep some cash handy (our IC card guide has the city side of the story).

One more thing, and it's about the flight, not the ground. Vietjet has been flying Hanoi to Shizuoka since April 2026, announced at launch as Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Hanoi around 2:40 a.m. and landing around 9:30 a.m. The return leaves Shizuoka around 10:30 a.m. Winter timetables can shift, so check the days and times with the airline before you build anything around them.

Day 1: stand in the tea fields around Kanaya

Kanaya is the little station where the Tōkaidō Line meets the Ōigawa Railway, and it's also the gateway to the Makinohara plateau, one of Japan's big tea-growing areas. It's the right place for an arrival day because it's close and easy.

The Shizuoka Prefecture tea museum, Fujinokuni Chanomiyako Museum, is a good anchor: it's open 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30), admission is about 500 yen, and it's closed on Tuesdays. Check the museum's page once more before you go, and treat any tea-field views from the grounds as a bonus rather than a promise.

If you arrive on a Tuesday, the museum is closed. A good Plan B is the Ōigawa Railway itself. The main line from Kanaya to Kawane Onsen Sasamado is running normally as of November 2026. The line beyond that point, up to Senzu, has been closed since the 2022 typhoon, and the railway directs you to a town bus from Ieyama or Kawane Onsen for anything further up. Whether the steam train runs on your particular day is something to check on the railway's own timetable page. We cover the line, and what's on and off it, in our Kawane and Ōi River valley guide.

For your bed, you want somewhere you can reach Kakegawa Station from in the morning. The town around Kakegawa Station is the obvious choice, since that's where the farm day starts. Kanaya to Kakegawa is about 14 minutes by local train.

Day 2: Kakegawa Station, 8:30, and into the fields

This is the day the trip is really about. Our Kawane tea farm day is for people who want to go past the viewpoint and into the field itself: you meet at the north exit of JR Kakegawa Station at 8:30, spend about seven hours with a guide who speaks English or Japanese, and are back at Kakegawa around 15:30. You pick leaves at a tea farm, and then eat them, as tempura. The day runs on weekdays from June to March, one group a day. Details and booking are on the Kawane tea farm tour page.

That's why the days matter. Land on a Tuesday, and the farm day is Wednesday. Land on a Sunday, and it's Monday. Land on a Thursday, and it's Friday, but your next flight home isn't until Sunday (see below).

If a day-long farm visit isn't for you, a self-guided day around Kanaya and the Ōigawa valley is already a good one. The farm day is simply the one thing here you can't do on your own.

Day 3: back to the airport

If your flight leaves around 10:30, aim to be at the airport roughly two hours ahead. Working backwards from the Kanaya timetable, that means a bus from JR Kanaya Station at about 7:20, or 8:15 if you're feeling brave. Read the timetable again the night before; winter times can change.

Two things make the morning tricky. First, the Shimada line has no early bus to the airport (the first is mid-morning), so staying in Shimada won't get you onto a 10:30 flight. Second, Tōkaidō Line trains from Kakegawa toward Kanaya start around six on weekdays, which leaves room for the 7:20 bus, but check the exact departure the night before. If you'd rather skip a two-leg morning altogether, a hotel in Kanaya itself makes the last day simpler.

Before you leave, remember that Japan changed its tax-free system on November 1, 2026: you pay the tax at purchase and get it back after a customs check on departure. We've explained how it works in our 2026 tax-free refund guide. At Shizuoka, ask at the information counter where the customs check is done.

What if you land on a Thursday, or want a longer trip?

Thursday arrivals are the odd one out. The farm day is Friday, but there's no flight on Saturday, so the next flight is Sunday. That's four days and three nights, which is actually a nicer length: you could spend the extra day in Kawane or Sumatakyō (see the guide above).

Coming in at Chubu Centrair or Tokyo instead? Take the Kodama Shinkansen to Kakegawa. Our central Japan autumn guide has the Nagoya route. And if you're wondering how the area's tea differs from other regions, Japanese tea regions is the place.

One more thing for readers planning around Vietnam's Tet holiday: the government's 2027 public-sector break is announced as February 4 to 10, which falls inside the tour season. February 11 is a Japanese public holiday, and we can't promise the farm day on holidays. Ask us before you book flights.

Three things to check before you go

As of November 2026, three pages decide whether this plan works: the airline's flight schedule (days and times), the airport's bus timetable (the winter timetable runs to March 27, 2027), and the Ōigawa Railway's operating information.

Check all three, and then leave yourself one slow morning. The tea fields don't mind waiting.