Get a taste of the local cuisine and the stunning Mt. Fuji scenery at Gotenba City. Enjoy specialties like tenbakoshi hikari and mizukakena, and try the local favorite Mikuriyasoba. Don’t miss the kamado cooking experience of tenbakoshi Hikari at the farmhouse inn, it’s sure to be a memorable trip.
Come experience the beauty of Mt. Fuji in all four seasons on a country getaway.
A young sibling joined their papa and mama on their first staying at a farmhouse.
They were very impressed with the delicious local cuisine!
Table of Contents
A farmer’s happy breakfast, even the okoge (scorched rice) is tasty
STAY at: Gotemba farmstay Matsunoha
The owner of this cozy inn enjoys collecting and fixing old things. He renovated an old soba shop into a charming place to stay. You can learn how to cook kamado rice using a traditional furnace attached to the eaves, which is a great experience!
Using fresh water from the nearby Futago-suijin spring and pesticide-free homemade rice, the rice is cooked with firewood for an authentic taste. Kids particularly love helping with the firewood. The freshly cooked rice has a glossy finish and is delicious with locally acclaimed sakura egg.
The side dishes are just as impressive, featuring vegetables and homemade wasabi picked fresh from the morning harvest in the back field, and pickled mizukisai in winter. Many families take home the leftover rice to make rice balls. Please let the owner know when booking, so you can enjoy these hands-on activities like chopping firewood, making soba noodles, smoking meat, or making konnyaku.
“Mikuriya soba” is the mother taste of Gotenba
EAT at: JA Gotemba Soba-dokoro
Gotenba was called Mikuriya in the past, and its gourmet is “Mikuriya Soba”. This warm and hearty dish, made with various ingredients, was traditionally prepared by mothers for local festivals and gatherings such as New Year’s celebrations. The soba restaurant run by JA Gotemba is one of the “Mikuriya Soba Serving Teams” that upholds the tradition of this special dish. It is a popular restaurant visited by many customers daily. The delicious secret of the fragrant soba, made from locally produced soba flour, water, and natural yam, lies in the sweet broth topped with chicken and local vegetables. It’s a taste that warms the heart with its motherly touch.
“Mikuriya Gozen” where you can feel the taste of this land
EAT at: Farm Minori
Yoichi Ikeda, a renowned chef and winner of the “Workman of the Year 2019” award, is a valuable contributor to Shizuoka Prefecture’s food culture. As part of his effort to promote the unique culinary heritage of Gotenba, he has opened a restaurant that offers a taste of the city’s delicious cuisine, including old-fashioned local dishes that are rarely found these days.
One of the popular dishes is the “Mikuriya Gozen,” a hearty meal made with a variety of locally sourced ingredients. The dish features fresh salads and tempura made with vegetables from local gardens and farms, as well as flavorful sukiyaki made with Gotenba pork. Of course, it is all served with the famous Gotenba Koshi-hikari rice.
Mr. Ikeda’s passion for supporting the local food culture is evident in every dish, which is meticulously crafted with care and dedication. Come and experience the charm of Gotenba’s unique cuisine at this restaurant.
Experience making your own tea & exploration of the wind hole of Mt. Fuji
EXPERIENCE at: Katsumata Tea Co.,Ltd.
Katsumata Sei-cha operates an organic tea garden located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, surrounded by breathtaking nature. They offer a range of hands-on events to share the area’s rich history dating back to the time of Minamoto Yoritomo, as well as the culture of specialty tea. Visitors can pick safe organic tea leaves, hand-massage them, and create unique tea bags with herbs grown in the tea garden. The company is also expanding into the world of tea culture and sharing various local charms with visitors through nature classes led by President Katsumata, who has an extensive network of contacts. Additionally, visitors can explore the wind caves of Mt. Fuji, accessed through a secret spot near the tea garden, which maintains a constant temperature of 15°C throughout the year, creating an enchanting experience to uncover the mysteries of nature.
“Gotenba Koshi-hikari” – the fruit borned from the passion of farmers
SHOPPING at: Farmers Gotemba
It is a JA directly managed shop where you can find delicious local vegetables, special Shizuoka Wagyu beef, special Mizukake-nazuke (pickled green vegetables), handmade dumplings and other side dishes. Sometimes there are rare vegetables that are not often available in supermarkets, so it’s fun just to look around!
Among them, “Gotenbakoshi Hikari”, which is nurtured by the cool highland climate and the water of Mt. Fuji, is now popular as a brand rice that is highly evaluated nationwide due to the enthusiasm and efforts of the creators.
At the eat-in corner of the store, you can enjoy handmade onigiri using gotenbakoshi hikari and curry with plenty of vegetables at reasonable prices. Access to the Tomei Gotenba IC is also convenient, so you can easily pop in for a souvenir of fresh and reliable specialties!
If you want to see the whole Mt. Fuji, then this is the place!
SEE the: Otome Pass
The observation deck, which I climbed a little on foot from FUJIMI CAFE on Otome Pass, is a superb view point where you can see Mt. Fuji from the highest summit in Japan to the vast foot!
It is an elegant figure also called “Otome Fuji”, and it is counted as one of the 10 views of Gotenba’s Fujimi. If the weather is good, you can see the lights of mountain climbers on the mountain surface on summer nights, and in winter when the air is clear, you can enjoy the night view of the lower world, and it shows various expressions depending on the season.
Otome Pass is located in the northeastern part of Hakone Outer Ring Mountain, and is also popular as a hiking trail. At FUJIMI CAFE, which is a place of relaxation in the pass, you can enjoy “FUJIMI Burger” of patty molded with Shizuoka Prefecture “Akashi beef” without connecting, and handmade financier with cute Mt. Fuji type.
Contact the Gotenba Farmstay
Tel: 0550-83-4770
