The ultimate 3 hour walking tour starts at the station and includes Kofu’s many highlights. Enjoy strolling around the city’s historic park and castle ruins before visiting the wide variety of traditional local craft stores!
START
Kofu Station
↓Approx. 10 min on foot
↓Approx. 10 min on foot
1
Yamanashi Jewellery Museum
Kofu city is Japan’s largest jewellery manufacturer
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The Yamanashi Jewellery Museum offers a variety of exhibitions on regional jewellery production. Visitors can observe the process of jewellery making and hands-on jewellery-making experiences are available (reservations required).
↓徒歩約8分
2
Inden-ya Yushichi Uehara and Inden Museum
See the exquisite lacquer-based printing patterns of Yamanashi’s traditional artistic craft!
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“Koshu Inden” is a traditional craft of lacquer-based printing on deerskin with over 400 years of history in Yamanashi prefecture.
This traditional technique was originally used to make armour and helmets for samurai warriors.
The deerskin selected for Koshu Inden is very light and soft, and the specialised leather products continue to be very popular today.
Leather items in a wide variety of colours and patterns are available at the shop.
The Inden Museum offers a display of this traditional craft including antique items and modern products along with precious historical documents and Inden manufacturing tools.
Approx. 10 min on foot
3
Maizuru Castle Park (Kofu Castle Ruins)
One of Japan's 100 most famous castle sites, faithfully reconstructed
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Kofu Castle was built in the late 16th century after the downfall of the powerful Takeda clan by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three great unifiers of Japan, and used to be a major strategic stronghold protecting the west of Edo, present-day Tokyo.
While it was destroyed in a fire in 1727, the original stone walls remain, and parts of the castle, such as the gates and the Inari-yagura watchtower, have been faithfully reconstructed in recent years using traditional methods from the original time of construction.
The highest point of the park, which is presumed to have been where the castle keep once stood, offers an unbroken panoramic view of the city, the Kofu basin, the Koshu Yume Koji shopping street, the surrounding mountains and Mount Fuji on a clear day.
The park is an especially popular spot in the spring, when it becomes abound with visitors looking for a stroll or a relaxing time under the 160 beautiful cherry trees blooming on the premises, with beautiful views of Mount Fuji in the background!
Approx. 5 min on foot
4
Koshu Yumekoji
A shopping alley in the heart of a traditional Japanese castle town
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Koshu Yumekoji is home to a wide range of shops offering local produce including a variety of local wines and traditional crafts. The complex also has a number of restaurants and cafes where visitors can enjoy regional cuisine and sweets.
GOAL