Yamanashi

Yamanashi is almost entirely mountains. Mount Fuji rises on its southern border, the Southern Alps and Yatsugatake on the west and north-west, and the Chichibu and Misaka mountains to the north and east; the only large lowland is the Kōfu Basin in the centre. The prefecture is one of the closest rural regions to Tokyo, reached in about an hour and a half by train from Shinjuku.

The basin's sunny, dry climate and alluvial fans made it the centre of Japanese fruit growing: Yamanashi leads the country in grapes, peaches and plums, and Katsunuma and its neighbours form the heart of Japanese wine making, based on the native Kōshū grape. Clear water from the mountains supports a large share of Japan's bottled mineral water.

The northern side of Mount Fuji, with the Fuji Five Lakes, the Yoshida climbing trail and the pilgrim town of Fujiyoshida, draws visitors from around the world and forms part of the World Heritage Site Fujisan. Historically, Yamanashi was the province of Kai, the power base of Takeda Shingen, one of the most celebrated warlords of the Sengoku period.

The prefecture is named after Yamanashi District, one of the four ancient districts of Kai; the name, meaning "mountain pear", is recorded from the Nara period. When the Kōfu domain lands and shogunal territories were reorganised in 1871, Kōfu Prefecture was renamed Yamanashi after the district. The prefecture corresponds exactly to the old province of Kai, whose name is still used in forms such as Kōshū.

The Kōfu Basin is drained by the Fuefuki and Kamanashi rivers, which join to form the Fuji River, one of Japan's three swiftest rivers, flowing south through a narrow valley to Suruga Bay. Large alluvial fans along the basin's edges are covered with orchards and vineyards.

To the west the Southern Alps rise to Kita-dake (3,193 m), the second-highest mountain in Japan, and Aino-dake; to the north lie the granite peaks of the Okuchichibu range, including Kinpu-san. On Fuji's northern slopes, lava flows from the eruption of 864 dammed the valleys that became the Fuji Five Lakes and now carry the Aokigahara forest. Spring water filtered through Fuji's lava emerges at Oshino Hakkai.

The Kōfu Basin has an inland climate with low rainfall, many hours of sunshine and large temperature ranges: summers are among the hottest in Japan, winters cold and dry with little snow. The Fuji Five Lakes area, at around 800 to 1,000 metres, is markedly cooler, with cold winters, and serves as a summer resort. The mountains receive heavy snow in winter.

Kai was an early centre of Jōmon culture, and the province later became known for its horses. In the sixteenth century the Takeda clan ruled it from Tsutsujigasaki in Kōfu; under Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) Kai expanded into Shinano and Suruga and became one of the strongest powers in Japan. Shingen's flood-control works on the Kamanashi, the Shingen-zutsumi embankment, are still cited as models of river engineering. The Takeda fell in 1582.

Under the Tokugawa, Kai was strategically important as the western approach to Edo along the Kōshū Kaidō; from 1724 it was ruled directly by the shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration Yamanashi prospered from silk reeling and developed Japan's first wine industry, sending two young men to study in France in 1877.

The Chūō Main Line reached Kōfu in 1903 and the Chūō Expressway in the 1970s and 1980s, tying the prefecture closely to Tokyo. In 2013 Mount Fuji was inscribed on the World Heritage List together with shrines, lakes and pilgrim houses on the Yamanashi side.

The memory of Takeda Shingen is central to Yamanashi's identity; his statue stands before Kōfu Station and his festival is the prefecture's largest. Mount Fuji shapes the culture of the southern districts, where the oshi, pilgrim-house keepers of Fujiyoshida, guided members of the Fuji-kō confraternities to the summit for centuries.

Everyday culture reflects a mountain province: hōtō noodles, the mutual-aid gatherings called mujin that remain a part of local social life, and a dialect known for its sentence-ending "zura". Crafts developed from local materials, deerskin, crystal and the silk of the Gunnai district.

Yamanashi's food combines the hearty dishes of a cold, poor mountain province with the abundance of its orchards. Wheat noodles rather than rice were the staple in many areas, giving rise to hōtō and Yoshida udon. The prefecture's grapes, peaches and wine are its best-known products, and the inland capital developed a taste for preserved seafood such as simmered abalone brought from Suruga.

Fruit farming is Yamanashi's signature industry: it produces more grapes, peaches and plums than any other prefecture, and its wineries make it the centre of Japanese wine. Kōfu's crystal-carving tradition developed into one of Japan's main jewellery industries, and the mountains supply much of the country's bottled mineral water.

Machinery and electronics are important, including industrial robots and semiconductor equipment, and textiles survive in the Gunnai area. Tourism around Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes, Kōfu's hot springs and the highlands of Yatsugatake is a major employer.