Shizuoka Travel Guide, Japan

Prefecture of Japan is the group of 47 jurisdictions within the country. Shizuoka happens to be the capital of the complete Prefecture of Japan. As per the consensus of 2006, Shizuoka has a population of a little more than 700000. The city is spread in an area of over 1400 square kilometers. There are three wards which comprise the city of Shizuoka namely Suruga - Ku, Aoi - Ku, and Shimizu - Ku.

Shizuoka is the most important city in the Prefecture of Japan and an estimate in the year 2004 said that it has around 4000 businesses (approx.) working in the city. Over 70 percent of the employment is in the service sector. Around 25 - 28 percent is in the manufacturing sector and the very minute 0.1 percent in agriculture.

The city of Shizuoka produces many products when it comes to agriculture in the city. Some such agricultural products are Lotus Roots, Wasabi, Green Tea, Roses, Strawberries, and Mandarin Oranges. Tuna, a fish, is very famous in the ports of Japan and Shizuoka is the hub of Tuna. The Kanbara Harbour of Shizuoka boasts of ‘sakura ebi’ while the Mochimune Harbour is famous for the fish ‘shirasu sardines’.

Shizuoka is also famous for Abekawa Mochi which are cakes made up of rice and kinako soy flour.

The craft industry of Shizuoka is around 400 years old and hence the artisans of Shizuoka are considered to be perfectionists in their fields. Various trees like hinoki cypress are used by the craft industry of Shizuoka. Models for educational purposes have been built in the city since 1920. These models are made up of wood and sashimono joinery techniques for woodworking of these models have been used ever since this work started in Shizuoka.

The craft industry of Shizuoka slowly moved to lighter woods like balsa but after the war and the growth of world economy, this industry started to lag behind. As a result many craftsmen either lost jobs or started to work for those companies which were now manufacturing plastic models in order to compete with international counterparts.

Although this was considered to be a setback for the craft industry of Shizuoka, soon the plastic models of Shizuoka’s craft industry became famous and were noted internationally. Companies like Hasegawa and Aoshima have their offices in Shizuoka itself. The very famous Shizuoka Hobby Show has now become a tradition for the city and it regularly attracts visitors from the rest of the planet.

email to a friendAsk our travel experts a question about Shizuoka