07/12/2025
On our recent visit to Shizuoka, we visited a few historic Japanese tea locations dedicated to Hikosaburo Sugiyama 杉山 彦三郎 and the tea cultivar Yabukitaやぶきた.
Yabukita is by far the most used Japanese tea variety. Depending on which source you look up, it takes up about 75-85% of production. If you’ve drank some tea from Japan, chances are you’ve tasted some Yabukita! The cultivar’s tolerance to the cold, high yield and balanced taste makes it a reliable choice for most farmers.
Sugiyama-san (born 1857) was an agricultural engineer and politician. He selected the Yabukita variety in 1908 but it would be after WW2 and his death in 1953 for the variety to be officially registered. As well as selecting Yabukita, he contributed immensely to the selective breeding science of Japanese tea.
We visited Sugiyama-san’s bust at the Sunpu Castle Park in Shizuoka city, as well as the original Yabukita tree and a small tea plantation in memory of Sugiyama-san which were a short train ride out of the city centre.The latter two locations are quite inconspicuous - you might walk by and not notice them!
📍 Sugiyama Hikosaburo bust
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Po1cydUDeMSfbkHZ9?g_st=ipc
📍 Original Yabukita Tree
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1CrXCKaoXGmxWZno7?g_st=ipc
📍 Sugiyama Memorial Tea Plantation
https://maps.app.goo.gl/SAQkinuhRZjH2AWD8?g_st=ipc