The city guide · Japan
The city guide · JapanTea shops inHamamatsu.
Hamamatsu is tea country: the city's own deep-steamed tea grows on the Mikatahara plateau west of the centre, and the lighter-steamed Tenryu and Haruno teas come down from the mountains to the north. The shops here are growers and merchants rather than boutiques: a 1939 family firm that makes every leaf it sells from its own gardens, a tea wholesaler in its fourth generation, a 1920 shop two minutes from the station that still sells by weight, and a tea maker from 2006 with its factory and café under one roof. Prices run from ¥648 for 100 g of everyday deep-steamed sencha to ¥2,400 for 100 g of shaded kabuse sencha, all tax included.
Illustrative tea photograph
4 places we’d send a friend to.
Our Hamamatsu shortlist
Good tea is worth knowing where to look.
Places to explore, each with a different reason to stop by. See what to bring home before you go.
Showing 4 of 4 places
- 01Loose-leaf specialist
Kaneta no Meicha Muramatsu Shoten (カネタの銘茶 村松商店)
Nishiyama-cho, Chuo-ku (grower-merchant with its own gardens, west of the centre)
8 prices listedKaneta no Meicha Muramatsu Shoten (カネタの銘茶 村松商店)
2365 Nishiyama-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu 432-8001 (浜松市中央区西山町2365)
A Hamamatsu grower-merchant since 1939 that steams and finishes every leaf it sells from its own gardens, and pours it fresh at the counter.
In storeShips onlineSince 19399:00–18:30, closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Read the full shop note
A grower-merchant founded in 1939 at 2365 Nishiyama-cho, on the western side of the city, that grows, steams and finishes every tea it sells from its own gardens and pours freshly made tea with a sweet to anyone who walks in. The deep-steamed senchas are sold by cultivar: Yabukita Suiko at ¥1,296 and Saemidori Maika at ¥1,512 for 100 g, with the everyday Wakamidori at ¥648 for 100 g, plus hojicha and jo-genmaicha at ¥864 for 200 g and kukicha at ¥1,188 for 200 g. The same gardens give a Benifuuki oolong at ¥1,188 for 80 g and a Tsuyuhikari black tea at ¥712 for 60 g. The shop also runs cha-kabuki, the blind-tasting game. Online orders ship free from ¥10,000.
What to bring home
Website: 394108.jp- SenchaWakamidori Hamamatsu deep-steamed sencha 100gfrom ¥ 648 · 100 g
- Oolong teaBenifuuki oolong, own-garden Hamamatsu leaf 80g¥ 1,188 · 80 g
- Black teaTsuyuhikari wakocha Japanese black tea, loose leaf 60g¥ 712 · 60 g
02Loose-leaf specialistMaruien Chaho (まるい園茶舗)
Sunayama Ginza Southern Cross arcade, 2 min from the south exit of Hamamatsu station
6 prices listedMaruien Chaho (まるい園茶舗)
357-22 Sunayama-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu 430-0926 (浜松市中央区砂山町357-22)
A Japanese tea shop of 1920 two minutes from Hamamatsu station, with twenty-odd green teas sold by weight from its own seasonal blends.
In storeShips onlineSince 192010:00–18:30, closed Sundays
Read the full shop note
A Japanese tea shop founded in 1920 in the Sunayama Ginza Southern Cross arcade, two minutes from the south exit of Hamamatsu station, with more than twenty green teas on the shelf and most of them sold by weight. Its blends change with the season and lean on body and sweetness: sencha Hoo, cut with kabusecha, is ¥1,080 for 100 g, hojicha Hoo ¥670 for 100 g, the matcha genmaicha ¥735 for 200 g, a 160 g bag of unrefined aracha ¥1,296, matcha Hatsumukashi ¥1,080 for 40 g and sencha tea bags ¥572 for fifteen. It delivers to offices and homes around the city and ships nationwide for a flat ¥770.
What to bring home
Website: maruienchaho.com- 03Loose-leaf specialist
Shimazu Shoten (茶問屋 嶋津商店)
Shikatani-cho, Chuo-ku, 5–8 min by bus from Hamamatsu station
8 prices listedShimazu Shoten (茶問屋 嶋津商店)
31-14 Shikatani-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu 432-8014 (浜松市中央区鹿谷町31-14)
A fourth-generation tea wholesaler in Shikatani-cho that sells its Shizuoka senchas by the 100 g bag, with the brewing temperature printed beside each.
In storeShips online9:30–18:30, closed Wednesdays, Sundays and holidays
Read the full shop note
A tea wholesaler with a shop at 31-14 Shikatani-cho, five to eight minutes by bus from Hamamatsu station, run by the fourth generation of a family that has traded tea in the city for ninety-odd years; the previous owner started mail order as soon as parcel delivery existed. Its flagship is the sencha Komokake at ¥864 for 100 g, and the house ladder climbs through jo-sencha Hoko at ¥1,188, tokujo Suiko at ¥1,512 and gokujo Seiran at ¥1,836 for 100 g; the 200 g bags hold sencha No. 3 at ¥1,296, hojicha and jo-genmaicha at ¥864 and tokujo kukicha at ¥1,296. Each product page prints the water temperature and steeping time the shop recommends.
What to bring home
Website: shimazu.jp - 04Loose-leaf specialist
Chappaya / Sonoda Seicha (茶ッ葉屋・薗田製茶)
Nishizuka-cho, Chuo-ku (former Higashi-ku); shop, tea factory and café on one site
6 prices listedChappaya / Sonoda Seicha (茶ッ葉屋・薗田製茶)
313-4 Nishizuka-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu 435-0044 (浜松市中央区西塚町313-4)
A Hamamatsu tea maker that began in 2006 delivering tea with no shop at all, and now finishes, roasts and serves it under one roof in Nishizuka-cho.
In storeShips onlineSince 2006Tea sales 10:00–18:00; café 10:00–18:00 (last order 17:30); closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays; winter break 28 Dec–3 Jan
Read the full shop note
The shop of Sonoda Seicha, a tea maker that began in 2006 delivering tea without a shop and in 2014 opened its own store and finishing factory at 313-4 Nishizuka-cho, with a café inside and fourteen parking spaces. Each tea comes in grades named with a single kanji: the extra-deep-steamed sencha Bi is ¥1,300 for 100 g, the light-steamed sencha Ko ¥2,400 and the shaded kabuse sencha Ko ¥2,400 for 100 g, the house-roasted green tea Bi ¥1,300 for 100 g, and the 200 g bags hold hojicha Ko at ¥1,400, kukicha Bi at ¥1,200 and matcha genmaicha Ko at ¥1,300. Online orders go through its BASE shop; the factory has a room for visits.
What to bring home
Website: chappaya064.thebase.in
Prices keep each product’s listed currency and pack size. Check current prices and hours with the shop.
A good cup, closer than you think
Find your tea in Hamamatsu.
These teas have an exact or close match in the local catalogue. Open a tea to see who sells it and at what price.
Also worth a visit
Nishizawa Seicha (西澤製茶)
Takizawa-cho, Hamana-ku · 1618 Takizawa-cho, Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu 431-2101
Website: nishizawa-seicha.comA grower since 1940 with 15 hectares of its own gardens in the hills north of the city, selling what it makes: senchas named by picking date, from Ohashiri and Hatsuzumi to Hachijuhachiya, plus kukicha, konacha and a Japanese black tea aged two years. Orders go by phone, fax, email or the form on its site.
Ask for prices in storeMarutama Chaya / Marutama Seicha (まるたま茶屋・まるたま製茶)
Hosoe-cho, Hamana-ku · 7172-917 Nakagawa, Hosoe-cho, Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu
Website: marutamachaya.comA tea farm on the old Hime Kaido road that grows, makes and sells its own tea without herbicides or pesticides, with a farm shop and café in renovated farm sheds, workshops in a sixty-year-old tool shed and tea picking in its garden in the new-tea season. The farm shop opens until 18:00 and closes on Sundays and holidays; the café also closes on Mondays. Its online shop runs on STORES.
Ask for prices in storeA little local knowledge
Before you head out.
Currency, grams & tea bags
Each price keeps its original pack size. A box of bags and a pouch of loose leaf aren’t a like-for-like comparison.
Check the right location
Hours and visiting conditions can differ between branches. Use the address and details for the location you plan to visit.
Pickup and appointments
Some sellers operate pickup offices or showrooms. Read the shop note and check its visiting conditions before setting out.
A guide with a point of view
Tea specialists lead the discovery. Other retailers keep their own category, for familiar blends and everyday essentials.
Keep following the tea
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Photography & credits
Tea photographs are illustrative unless identified as a photograph of the shop. Images are cropped or framed to fit the layout.
- 五玄土 ORIENTO · Original photograph · Unsplash License