Official Tourism Website of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture "Home of Mt.Fuji, Yamanashi" > Sightseeing spots > Kofu Area > Sights
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Sights(Kofu Area)
The best time to visit is from mid-October to late November. Main kinds of trees: maple, ginkgo and Japanese zelkova.
Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Archeology
The best time to visit is from mid-October to early November. Main kinds of trees: maple, Japanese zelkova and cherry trees.
There is a walking route from Tenjinmori to Senga Waterfall. Fish such as the Japanese char and Japanese salmon swim in the clear waters of the Arakawa River.
The gorge from Nagatoro Bridge to Senga Waterfall is stunning and beautiful throughout the four seasons.
The shrine is famous for its ukon-zakura cherry trees which have gold colored blossoms.
There are around 30 Yoshino cherry blossom trees and the views of Mt. Fuji, the Yatsugatake mountains, Mt. Kayagatake and the Southern Alps are superb. The best time to see the cherry blossoms is from late March to early April.
This temple was founded when Takeda Shingen, who was fighting the battles of Kawanakajima, feared that Shinano Zenko-ji Temple might be destroyed by fire, and in 1558 moved all the Buddhist treasures and statues including the main deity Zenkoji Nyorai here. The temple’s Sanmon Gate and Main Hall are nationally designated as Important Cultural Properties.
Kofu Castle was built after the destruction of the Takeda Clan at the end of the 16th Century. It once covered a large area of 20 hectares, and today a part of the castle ruins is open to the public as Maizuru Castle Park which is a relaxing place for the citizens. In the park there is a ‘Yamanashi "Home of Mt. Fuji" Information Corner’ which introduces the charms of Yamanashi. There is a special bus and disabled parking area. *Please apply in advance. Contact: Urban Planning Division, Chuhoku Construction Office. Telephone: 055-224-1673
Yamanashi Prefectural Science Center
The museum has an exhibition room, an experiment workshop, a planetarium, an observatory, a viewing terrace, a science show and a play room.
You can enjoy all the charms of crystals in this museum which has a floor and a gallery displaying gemstones.
Museum of Shadowgraph in Shosenkyo
The museum was established as the world’s first shadowgraph museum in Japan’s most beautiful gorge, Shosen, in 1992. Every year over 300,000 people visit the museum and are impressed by the splendor of the shadowgraphs.
Kai Terrace Yamanashi Local Industry Center
The Yamanashi Kofu /Kuninaka Region Local Industry Promotion Center Foundation was established on September 13th 1985 with contributions from 57 organizations mainly in Yamanashi Prefecture and Kofu City, as a place to promote the local industries and products to the general public and as a tourism facility. It receives an average of 280,000 visitors per year. It was given the nick-name ‘Kai Terrace’ when it was re-opened on February 27th 2004.
The best time to visit is from late October to mid-November. Main kinds of trees: maple, azalea, Sawtooth oak and oak.
-The best time to visit is from mid-October to the end of November -Main kinds of trees: maple, lacquer tree, sumac, Japanese rowan and Sawtooth oak The gorge was nationally designated as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953. It is also holds the number one spot for gorges in the 100 best tourist sites of Japan and is included in the Heisei Era 100 best water sites (selected by Ministry of the Environment). For Approximately 4 km from Tenjin Forest to Senga Fall, Mitake Shosen Gorge, spreading out at the source of Ara River really is Japan’s most beautiful gorge.
Cherry blossom trees line the route from the North Exit of Kofu Station to Takeda-jinja Shrine. There are around 1,000 cherry blossom trees in the shrine grounds. The best time to visit is early to mid-April.
Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art
The museum opened in 1978 and since then has come to be fondly known as a ‘museum of Millet’. It stands in the large Arts Park which is rich in greenery. In the park there are sculptures by Rodin, Henry Moore, Bourdelle, Zadkine, Maillol and others, and the park displays its beauty throughout the seasons. The exhibition rooms contain a variety of splendid works by artists from Japan and overseas, including Millet’s famous panting The Sower, and works by other artist’s of the Barbizon School such as Theodore Rousseau and Daubigny. There are also works by Turner, Corot, Courbet, Chagall, Fujita Tsuguharu (also known as Leonard Foujita), Umehara Ryuzaburo, Fukuzawa Ichiro and Kakurai Kazuo.