is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 187,985 in 90,924 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of 880 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Overview

Toponymy

Kōfu's name means "capital of Kai Province". During the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

, it was famous as the stronghold of

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful Daimyo, daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of ...

Cityscapes

File:Kofu Castle2.jpg, Kōfu Castle（ Maizuru Castle Park） File:Takeda-jinja 201905b.jpg, Tsutsujigasaki Castle（2019）
（ Takeda Shrine） File:DownTown of Kofu City.jpg,

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skyline ...

of Kōfu City（2018） File:Kofu City Hall-1.jpg, CBD of Kōfu City（2014） File:View kofu celeo.JPG,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

of Kōfu City（2015） File:Kasuga Avenue mall Kofu-City.JPG,

Kasuga

Geography

Kōfu is located in north-central

which is in Central Honshu. It extends from the northern border of the prefecture with

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the n ...

to the south until it almost reaches the prefecture's southern border. It is narrow along its east–west axis. The city bisects the Kōfu Basin and is 250 to 300 meters above sea level. Kōfu is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Three quarters of Kōfu's territory is a part of

Mount Kinpu , or is a mountain and the main peak in the Okuchichibu Range in Kantō Mountains in the South Japan Alps. It is located in Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park

in the north. Much of the northern portion of the city is within the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park.

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

is visible in the distance from Kōfu to the south.

Climate

Kōfu has a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa''), though it is less wet than either the south or

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

coast due to its location in a shielded mountain valley. The average annual temperature in Kōfu is 11.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1345 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around -0.1 °C. Temperature ranges are noticeably greater than in coastal regions: in 2004 Kōfu reached a temperature of previously almost unknown in Japan, and it has fallen below as early as 26 October, which is about a month before the earliest freezing temperatures in such coastal cities as

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Surrounding municipalities

;

* Kai * Yamanashi * Fuefuki * Hokuto * Chūō * Shōwa * Fujikawaguchiko * Ichikawamisato * Minobu ;

* Kawakami

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kōfu as remained relatively stable over the past 50 years.

History

Prehistoric Ages

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of human settlement in the Kōfu area dating to the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC ...

period, with continuous settlement through the Jōmon,

Yayoi The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

and Kofun periods. File:Kai Choshizuka Kofun zenkei.JPG,

Kai Chōshizuka Kofun 280px, Bronze Mirror excavated at the Kai Chōshizuka Kofun The is a ''kofun'' burial mound located in the Shimosone neighborhood of the city of Kōfu, Yamanashi in the Chūbu region of Japan. Together with the adjacent it was designated as ...

Ancient Ages

During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara, Nara, Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remai ...

, the

provincial temple were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). History Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a ''kokubun-ji'' for monks and a for nuns to be established in each ...

of Kai Province was established in what is now Kōfu, indicating that the Nara period provincial capital was located nearby, as the name of the city implies. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, a branch of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

, the "Kai-Genji" ruled over vast ''

shōen A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the privat ...

'' estates, and developed a military force noted for its use of cavalry.

Middle Ages

By the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

, a branch of the Kai-Genji, the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of T ...

came to dominate the area, and built a castle in what is now part of Kōfu. Under the rule of

Takeda Nobutora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) who controlled the Province of Kai, and fought in a number of battles of the Sengoku period. He was the father of the famous Takeda Shingen. Biography Nobutora’s son was Harunobu, later known as Tak ...

, Kōfu was rebuilt as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

starting in 1519, and remained the capital of the Takeda clan under

and his son

Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese '' daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son in law of Hojo Ujiyasu. Early life He was the son of Shingen by the daugh ...

. File:躑躅ヶ崎館.jpg, Tsutsujigasaki Castle File:Kai-Zenkoji-temple Kofu-city Yamanashi Japan.JPG, Kai Zenkoji

Early Modern Ages

During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, Kai Province was ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedi ...

'' territory ruled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, and Kōfu Castle remained its administrative center. In 1705, in a signal honour, it was conferred on

Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. He was an official in the Tokugawa shogunate and a favourite of the fifth shōgun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. His second concubine was Ogimachi Machiko, a writer and scholar from the noble court who wro ...

a favourite of the fifth shōgun. He was a member of the Yanagisawa clan descendants of the "Kai-Genji", the branch of the

which had been enfeoffed with the province of Kai in the eleventh century. His son, Yoshiyasu was transferred to Yamato-Koriyama Castle in 1724 after which Kofu Castle was again held directly by the Shogunate. File:Kofu Castle 201904q.jpg, Kōfu Castle File:Chuo district intersection. Kofu city.jpg,

Kōshū Kaidō The was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku in Na ...

（ Kōfu-shuku）

Late Modern Ages

Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the town of Kōfu was proclaimed on July 1, 1889. The city experienced a major flood disaster in 1907 (明治40年の大水害) caused by heavy rain in a typhoon from the night of August 21, 1907 and by deforestation which was accelerated in Yamanashi Prefecture, due to the need for wood for fuel of the steam engines of the growing industrial policy of the Fujimura Prefectural Government. A police officer inspected the stricken area from August 23 to October 10, 1907. Patrol diaries of Masaki Tsukasa Kasaburo said "This heavy rainfall causes rivers to run down, landslides and levee failures, bridge piers destruction, etc., resulting in the destruction of homes and villages, village isolation, runoff and runoff, and traffic disruptions caused serious damage 233 people died, 5757 houses were run out, 650 hectares of lands have been buried or run down, 3353 landslides, collapse and damage distance of about 140 kilometers of levees, runoff and burial of roads, the damage distance was about 500 kilometers, 393 telephone poles collapsed. It was the largest natural disaster in modern times in Yamanashi Prefecture. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, much of the city was destroyed by

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 ...

bombers during a major air raid during the night of 6 July 1945. File:Flood disaster of 1907 of Kofu-City.jpg, 1907 Kōfu Flood File:Yoka-Machi Street Kofu-City 1912.JPG, 1912 Yoka-Machi Street File:Kofu city hall building of the second. Taken in 1918.jpg, 1918 Kōfu city hall building File:Air raid Kofu-City.jpg, Kōfu after the 1945 air raids（

Bombing of Kōfu in World War II The was part of the air raids on Japan strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers of the Empire of Japan during the Japan campaign, Japan home islands campaign in the closin ...

）

Contemporary Ages

Kōfu was designated as one of the

special cities of Japan A of Japan was a category of cities in Japan in operation until 2015. Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions normally carried out by prefectural governments A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectu ...

on April 1, 2000. On March 1, 2006, Kōfu, with a population of 193,795, absorbed the town of Nakamichi (from Higashiyatsushiro District), and the northern part of the village of Kamikuishiki (from Nishiyatsushiro District) increasing the population to 201,184. On April 1, 2019, Kōfu's city status is elevated into a

core city In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

Government

Council

Kōfu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 32 members. The city supplies nine members to the Yamanashi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Yamanashi 1st district and the

Yamanashi 2nd district Yamanashi can refer to: * Yamanashi Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture with 888,170 people * Yamanashi, Yamanashi, a Japanese city with 39,631 people * Joseph Yamanashi, a recurring character on '' MADtv'' played by Bobby Lee * Yamanashi, Japanese ...

for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan.

External relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

International

;Sister Cities

National

;Sister City

Economy

The city is a regional commercial and transportation center for central Yamanashi Prefecture. Local industries include food processing including

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

production, textiles and crystalware.

Media

* Yamanashi Broadcasting System * UHF Television Yamanashi

Education

Universities and Colleges

;Public * University of Yamanashi * Yamanashi Prefectural University ;Private *

Yamanashi Gakuin University Yamanashi Gakuin University (Japanese: 山梨学院大学, ''Yamanashi gakuin daigaku'') (YGU) is a university in Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Yamanashi Gakuin was founded in 1946. Today, it is a comprehensive educational institution that ...

Yamanashi Eiwa College is a private university in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the S ...

* Yamanashi Gakuin Junior College

Primary and secondary education

* Kōfu has 25 public elementary schools and 11 public junior high schools operated by the city government, as well as one national combined elementary/middle school. In addition, there are two private elementary schools and three private junior high schools. The city has eight public high schools operated by the Yamanashi Prefectural Board of Education, and five private high schools.

Transportation

Airways

Airports

The nearest airport is Matsumoto Airport &

Shizuoka Airport , also called Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport, is located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Opened on June 4, 2009, the airport has domestic service to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Naha (Okinawa), Komatsu, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima. International routes connect it t ...

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primar ...

Narita International Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airpo ...

Railways

Conventional Lines

;

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

（JR East） * JR CO line symbol

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

：- - - ; JR logo (central)

Central Japan Railway Company（JR TōKai） * JR Central Minobu Line

Minobu Line：- - - - - -

Buses

Bus Terminus

* Kōfu Station Bus Terminu

Roads

Expressway

Chūō Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by NEXCO Central. Naming Officially the expressway is designated as the Chūō Expressway Nishinomiya Route (from Takaido Interchange to Komaki Junction), the Chūō Expressway Na ...

Japan National Route

* * * * * *

Local attractions

Historical Sites

* Kai Zenkō-ji * Kōfu Castle * Tsutsujigasaki Castle * Takeda Shrine * Yōgaiyama Castle * Ōmaruyama Kofun

Other sites

* Yumura Onsen * Yamanashi Science Museum

Culture

Festivals

Shingen-ko Festival

The biggest festival in Kōfu is the . It is held annually on the first or second weekend of April and celebrates the legacy of Takeda Shingen. The festival is three days long. Usually a famous Japanese celebrity plays the part of Takeda Shingen. There are several parades going to and from the Takeda Shrine and Kōfu Castle. This is the largest public history play in Japan. In 2012 the event was included in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the "largest gathering of samurai" in the world with 1061 participants.

Sports

File:Vfk2009112101.jpg, JIT Recycle Ink Stadium File:Midorigaoka sports park.JPG, Kofu Midorigaoka Sports Park Stadium File:Kose sports park gymnasium.JPG, Arena of Kose sports park gymnasium File:Arena of Kose sports park gymnasium-1.JPG, Arena of Kose sports park gymnasium

Notable people from Kofu

Banjō Ginga , sometimes credited as his real name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator who was born in Kofu, Yamanashi. Ginga is affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to voice actress Gara Takashima. Known for his deep baritone voic ...

– voice actor * Hideo Hagiwara – woodblock print artist * Tsuneo Horiuchi – former manager of Yomiuri Giants baseball team * Takao Kajimoto – former professional baseball player and sports announcer * Junichi Kanemaru - voice actor *

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...

– professional wrestler *

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...