Koshu City

Shogunate herb house, two-tier roof.

Kanzo-yashiki, Old Takano House

Photo by Wiiii (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Village

A silkworm-rearing villagekeeps its Edo-period form.

Kamijo is a mountain village overlooking the Kofu Basin. Houses and silkworm sheds from the mid-Edo period to the Showa era are preserved together, and it was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 2015. The city calls it the second in the prefecture. In the Kannon hall at its centre stands a 228 cm Kannon carved from a single block by the monk Mokujiki Byakudo in 1781 (Tenmei 1) at Kamijo's request.

Preservation district (selected 2015)
Second in the prefecture (city)
Statue height 228 cm

02 ／ Tunnel

Steam-locomotive sootremains on the brick walls.

Completed in 1903 (Meiji 36). Until 1997 (Heisei 9) it was the down-line tunnel of the Chuo Main Line. Length: 1,368 m. Black soot from the steam locomotives that ran until electrification in 1931 (Showa 6) is deposited on the walls. It was converted into a walking path in 2007 and is a Selected Civil Engineering Heritage site (fiscal 2005).

Completed 1903
1,368 m long
Selected Civil Engineering Heritage

03 ／ Flowers

Melting the snow with its own heat,skunk cabbage blooms.

In a mountain wetland at Takemori, skunk cabbage grows in colonies. Called zazen-so in Japanese, it is named for its resemblance to a monk in zazen meditation; when it blooms it gives off heat and melts the snow around it. Said to be at the southern limit in Honshu, it is a prefectural natural monument and a city-designated natural monument. Peak bloom is from late February to around March.

Prefectural natural monument
City-designated natural monument
Peak bloom late Feb to around March

Living here

78 minutes from Shinjuku by limited express, no changes.

about 30,000 people
90 min to a city centre

Chuo Main Line limited expresses stop at Enzan Station and reach it from Shinjuku without a change. Kanzo-yashiki is a one-minute walk from the station's north exit.

People living here: 29,237people
Area: 264.11km²
Households: 11,152households
Rent (average for rentals): 44,965yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 24 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —12 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Koshu City in Japan35.704°N 138.729°E

to ShinjukuJR limited express78min

Travel times follow JR東日本の公式の駅時刻表（塩山駅中央本線甲府・松本方面〈下り〉の平日・土休日。2610版）と、各列車のページ（新宿発・塩山着の時刻）。2026-10-08 に取得した。向きは割り振りの決めに合わせて都市（新宿）→町（塩山駅） (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Koshu City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

29.1km

Yamanashi Prefecture: 山梨市, 丹波山村, 大月市, 笛吹市, 小菅村
Saitama Prefecture: 秩父市

Koshu City isthis kind of town.

01Kanzo-yashiki (the Old Takano House), an Important Cultural Property, is the house ordered in 1720 (Kyoho 5) to grow the medicinal herb kanzo (licorice) for the shogunate
02Besides three National Treasures including the main hall of Daizen-ji Temple, there are a mountain village that is a preservation district, a brick former railway tunnel and a colony of skunk cabbage
0378 minutes from Shinjuku by limited express, no changes

See the town as it is now.

Instagram@koshu_city ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Koshu City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗