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The city is known for high-quality green tea, strawberries grown on inclined stone walls, wasabi, citrus fruits especially Satsuma, lotus roots, roses and peaches. Local delicacies include oden (boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku and fish cakes stewed in beef stock and dark soy sauce), zōni soup (rice cakes cooked with vegetables in broth) and tororo (grated yam soup). 

A tororo restaurant named Chojiya in the Mariko-juku area of Shizuoka dates back to 1598 and was depicted by Hiroshige in his prints of the fifty-three stops along the Tōkaidō.

Scenic attractions include:

  • Nihondaira, a scenic plateau in the centre of the city, with views of Mt. Fuji, Southern Alps, Izu Peninsula and Suruga Bay.
  • The Nihondaira Ropeway connecting Nihondaira to Kunozan Toshogu Shrine.
  •  Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art at the foot of Nihondaira includes a Rodin wing with a collection of the sculptor's works along with other European sculptures.
  • A 25-minute walk from JR Yui Station, Tokaido Hiroshige Art Museum features Utagawa Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
  • The ruins of Sunpu Castle, built in 1599, destroyed in 1869 and subsequently turned into a park which is a popular venue for hanami (sakura viewing).
  • Kunōzan Tōshō-gū shrine, the burial place of Tokugawa Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, might have lost some structures but thirteen remain. The Honden and Heiden, built in 1617, are protected as Important Cultural Properties. The museum has displays including tachi (Japanese swords) and suits of armour.
  • Shizuoka Sengen Jinja, a group of three Shinto shrines that enjoyed the patronage of the warrior clans who dominated the area through the Kamakura and Muromachi: periods. The complex burned down in 1804 and was subsequently rebuilt in the Momoyama style, with extensive lacquer, wood carvings, and gold leaf.

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© Ian Hughes 2017