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Shizuoka is the capital of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on Suruga Bay, famous as the retirement seat of Tokugawa Ieyasu and for Mount Fuji views from Nihondaira and the Miho no Matsubara pine beach. Its top sights are Sunpu Castle Park, Kunōzan Tōshō-gū, the Shizuoka Sengen Shrine, Miho no Matsubara and the Toro Yayoi site.
The Imagawa clan ruled Suruga from Sunpu in the Muromachi period, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had spent his youth here as a hostage, retired to Sunpu in 1606 to steer the shogunate from behind the scenes. In 1869 Sunpu was renamed Shizuoka, and much of the city burned in a firebombing raid on 19 June 1945.
With about 678,000 people, Shizuoka merged with Shimizu City in 2003 and became a designated city in 2005. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen has served it since 1964, and its festivals include the Daidogei World Cup, a four-day gathering of street performers from around the world each November, and the Shizuoka Festival.
Sunpu Castle Park is the park on the site of Sunpu Castle in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, where Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled in retirement from 1606. The castle was pulled down in the Meiji era and only parts of its moats remain, but its Tatsumi Yagura turret and east gate were rebuilt in 1989 and 1996.
Kunōzan Tōshō-gū is the Shinto shrine on Mount Kunō above Suruga Bay in Shizuoka, Japan, where Tokugawa Ieyasu was buried in 1616 by his own wish. Its main hall of 1617, with the stone room and worship hall, is a National Treasure, and the whole mountain is a National Historic Site.
Shizuoka Sengen Shrine is a group of three Shinto shrines at Mount Shizuhata in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, and the sōja shrine of old Suruga Province. Patronised by the Imagawa, Takeda and Tokugawa clans, it was rebuilt with Tokugawa Ieyasu's support, and its main festival is held on 5 April.
Rinzai-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, the family temple of the Imagawa clan, where the young Tokugawa Ieyasu was schooled while a hostage of the Imagawa. Rebuilt by Ieyasu after 1582, its garden is a Place of Scenic Beauty, open only on 19 May and 15 October.
Miho no Matsubara is a pine-lined shore of about 7 km on the Miho Peninsula in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, with views of Mount Fuji across Suruga Bay. Part of the Fujisan World Heritage Site since 2013, it is the setting of the Hagoromo legend, recalled by its old Hagoromo pine.
Nihondaira is the summit area of Mount Udo near the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, famed for views of Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula across Suruga Bay, the Southern Alps and Shimizu Port below. A National Place of Scenic Beauty since 1959, it is linked to Kunōzan Tōshō-gū by a ropeway.
Miho Shrine is an ancient Shinto shrine on the Miho Peninsula in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, tied to the Hagoromo pine of Miho no Matsubara. A 520 m avenue of 300- to 400-year-old pines, the Path of the Gods, leads from the shrine to the pine, and its grounds are World Heritage.
Seiken-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in the Okitsu district of Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, above Suruga Bay on the old Tōkaidō road. Revived as a Rinzai temple in 1262, it schooled the young Tokugawa Ieyasu and hosted Korean and Ryukyuan envoys in the Edo period, and it is a National Historic Site.
Toro Site is a Yayoi-period village and paddy field site in Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, dating to about the 1st century. Found in 1943, it was dug in 1947 in Japan's first joint dig by many sciences, which revealed over 80,000 m2 of rice paddies, houses, raised storehouses and wooden tools.
Mariko-juku is the old 20th post station of the Tōkaidō road in Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, the smallest on the route. Its specialty is tororo-jiru grated yam soup, served at the Chōjiya restaurant since 1596, and Hiroshige's print of the station shows a teahouse selling it.
Yui-shuku is the 16th post station of the old Tōkaidō road, in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, where the site of its honjin inn is now Yui Honjin Park. Beyond the town the road climbs Satta Pass, a famous viewpoint of Mount Fuji, and the post town is part of a Japan Heritage story of Edo-era travel.
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art opened in 1986 in Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. Its collection centres on Eastern and Western landscape painting from the 17th century on, including Claude Lorrain, and its Rodin Wing, opened in 1994, shows 32 works by Rodin, among them The Gates of Hell.
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