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Shizuoka prefecture (静岡県 Shizuoka-ken) is in the central Chubu region of the main Japanese island Honshu.

Understand

Western Shizuoka was once the province of Tōtōmi-no-kuni (遠江国), also known as Enshū (遠州), which you'll still see in many company names and placenames in the area today. The eastern part of the prefecture was once the province of Suruga-no-kuni (駿河国), while the Izu Peninsula was its own province, Izu-no-kuni (伊豆国) The famous mountains are Mt. Hakone(箱根山), Mt. Amagi(天城山), Mt. Fuji(富士山) and Mt. Akaishi(赤石山脈).

Cities

Enshū (Western region)

Suruga (Central region)

Izu Peninsula

  • Atami - seaside hot spring resort a short hop from Tokyo
  • Izu - the home of famous hot springs of Shuzenji, nicknamed "Little Kyoto of the Izu Peninsula", that has many tasteful ryokans with Japanese gardens.
  • Izunokuni - the home of Izu-Nagaoka hot springs and many historical spots in former Nirayama Town (that has been merged into Izunokuni City)
  • Mishima - it is nicknamed city of water in Japan with fountain of meltwater from Mt. Fuji. It is also famous for the Mishima Taisha.
  • Shimoda - the southernmost city in Izu Peninsula.
  • Shuzenji

Other destinations

Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace, the prefecture's newest World Heritage Site

Talk

The dialect in Western Shizuoka is known as Enshū-ben (遠州弁).

Get in

By plane

  • Chubu International Airport outside of Nagoya is the nearest major international airport with flights from a variety of locations in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. There is a direct shuttle bus from the airport that runs to Hamamatsu and Iwata for around 3000 yen.

By train

Shizuoka is primarily served by the JR Tokaido Main Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen between Nagoya and Yokohama.

By bus

Get around

See

Kakegawa Castle, Kakegawa

Do

  • Climb Mount Fuji. There are Fujinomiya Trail in Fujinomiya, Gotemba Trail in Gotemba, and Subashiri Trail in Oyama-cho.
  • Ride a steam engine and cog railway. The Oigawa Railway operates one of less than a handful of steam locomotives left in Japan. Catch the train from Kanaya Station one stop west of Shimada and take it to Senzu deep in Kawanehon-cho. From there you can catch a bus to Okuizumi Station and catch the cog railway (originally built to support the construction of dams on the Oigawa) as far north as Ikawa, at the foot of the Southern Alps. Both train rides are especially beautiful during sakura season (there is a 1km section of track called the "sakura tunnel") and autumn leaf season.

Eat

  • Local specialties include eel, turtle, and melons.
  • Sawayaka (さわやか). This Shizuoka-only chain has many locations all over the prefecture, specializing in beef dishes such as their famous genkotsu hamburger steaks the size of your fist.

Drink

  • Shizuoka is famous for green tea.
  • Decent nightlife can be found in Hamamatsu and Shizuoka.

Go next

This region travel guide to Shizuoka is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!