Overview
Between Tokyo and Nagoya on Japan's Pacific coast, Shizuoka combines a castle-town center with the separate port district of Shimizu. From the Shinkansen station, you can walk to Sunpu Castle Park, stop for locally grown tea, and end the day with an oden dinner.
Miho's pine coast and the viewpoints around Nihondaira require a longer outing. Staying overnight gives you time to explore one of them without rushing through the center.
Castle streets, tea and oden
Sunpu Castle Park occupies the grounds where Tokugawa Ieyasu lived after retiring as shogun. About 15 minutes on foot from the station, the park retains moats and stone walls alongside reconstructed gates and turrets and the landscaped Momijiyama Garden. There is no surviving castle keep. Excavated foundations and exhibitions inside the restored buildings convey the scale of the former castle.
You don't need to visit a plantation to try the city's tea. Cafes and tea shops around the center serve locally grown leaves, often with tea-flavored sweets. In the Takajo neighborhood, you can compare brewed teas or order drinks such as green-tea lattes.
For dinner, the small shops along Aoba Oden Street and Aoba Yokocho specialize in skewered ingredients simmered in a dark broth. The local version includes dark fish cakes and a topping of seaweed flakes and powdered dried fish. It's everyday food served throughout the year, not only in winter.
Shimizu and Miho's pine coast
Shimizu is the city's port district, about 13 minutes from the center on the JR Tokaido Main Line. Near JR Shimizu Station, Kashi no Ichi fish market combines seafood stalls with restaurants serving tuna and seafood rice bowls. Have lunch here before continuing to Miho.
At Miho Matsubara, pine woodland meets the shore of Suruga Bay, with Mount Fuji visible across the water in clear weather. The grove forms part of Mount Fuji's World Heritage site. From JR Shimizu Station, the usual bus journey to Miho Matsubara Iriguchi takes about 25 minutes, followed by a 15-minute walk. Plan for both legs rather than treating the coast as a short walk from the railway.
Nihondaira and Kunozan Toshogu
At Nihondaira, the Yume Terrace observation deck looks out over Shimizu Port and Suruga Bay toward Mount Fuji. Local buses run from Shizuoka and Higashi-Shizuoka stations, but check that your chosen service continues to the summit.
A five-minute ropeway ride connects Nihondaira with Kunozan Toshogu, the richly decorated shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu. The shrine gives the outing a historical focus as well as a scenic one. Clouds can obscure Mount Fuji, so don't make a clear view your only reason for visiting.
Arriving and where to stay
Shizuoka Station serves the Tokaido Shinkansen and JR Tokaido Main Line. Kodama and selected Hikari services stop here; Nozomi trains pass through. The Hikari journey takes about an hour from Tokyo or 55 minutes from Nagoya, so an overnight break is straightforward to add to either itinerary.
Hotels in the Shizuoka Station Area keep you close to both the trains and the central shopping and dining streets. Local trains and buses cover the coastal and hillside excursions from there. Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport also has a direct bus connection with the station that takes roughly an hour. Match the timetable to your flight and allow extra time for road delays.
Good to know
The Nihondaira Ropeway is scheduled to close for equipment renewal from December 1 to 21, 2026. Kunozan Toshogu will remain open, but visitors must approach by the stone steps from the coast rather than by ropeway from Nihondaira during the closure.
