Nishikatsura Town

Local believers set statues, they say.

Hachijuhachi Daishi, Mitsutoge

Photo by Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France (CC BY 2.0)

01 ／ Shrine spring

Just past the torii gate,a spring-fed pond lies left of the path.

In the grounds of Onuma Sengen Shrine is a pond that the Ministry of the Environment's list describes as holding a steady volume of water all year round. A prefectural document says it is handed down as the water-training place of Kutai Shonin, regarded as the restorer of Mount Mitsutoge, and that people heading for Mount Fuji also took part in water ablutions here. Waterways run through the district like a net, and the prefecture's document records that water wheels also powered looms.

Steady water volume all year
Water-training place, by tradition
Waterways like a net

02 ／ Old road

On the old road known as "Inn Street,"two horse tramways met at a transfer stop.

A prefectural document says Onuma's old road was called "Inn Street" and, from the Edo period into modern times, prospered as a post town taking in pilgrims who gathered for the summer climbing season. In the Meiji era, the stretch of old road in front of the town hall was where the Tsuru and Fuji horse tramways met. Because their track gauges differed, a stop was built for transfers and called the "exchange".

Old road called "Inn Street"
Two horse tramways, Tsuru and Fuji
Transfer stop called the "exchange"

03 ／ Jomon

A Jomon pot with a hanging handlebears a motif thought to be a boar.

The Miyanomae site in Shimokurechi dates from the late middle to the late Jomon period and was excavated in 1987, 2001 and 2002. In 1987 a pot with a hanging handle, bearing a motif thought to be a boar on its bridge, was unearthed from within a dwelling site, and the prefecture records that this made the site famous as one of the leading sites in eastern Yamanashi Prefecture.

Late middle to late Jomon period
Hanging-handle pot unearthed in 1987
Excavated three times

Living here

Two evening rapid trains run from Shinjuku without a change.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

The town's only station is Mitsutoge Station on the Fujikyu Railway Line. Through rapid trains from the JR Chuo Line run from Shinjuku without a change, two on the way down in the evening, taking from 140 minutes on weekdays and from 125 minutes on weekends and holidays. Two trains leave Mitsutoge in the early morning.

People living here: 4,041people
Area: 15.22km²
Households: 1,484households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 2 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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.

Nishikatsura Town in Japan35.524°N 138.847°E

to ShinjukuJR Rapid140min

Travel times follow 富士山麓電気鉄道（事業者）の公式ページ『毎日運行東京～河口湖（JR直通電車）』（2026年3月14日からの時刻表。平日・土休日）。新宿発と三つ峠着の列車時刻から数えた。同社の三つ峠駅の時刻表ページ（大月行の6:13・6:39に東京方面直通の印）とも合う (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Nishikatsura Town

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

5.5km

都留市, 富士吉田市, 富士河口湖町

Nishikatsura Town isthis kind of town.

01On the Mount Mitsutoge trail, a mountainside slope holds the 88 stone statues of Hachijuhachi Daishi, said to have been enshrined by believers from nearby villages in the Bunkyu era (1861-1863)
02The pond at Onuma Sengen Shrine is a spring that the Ministry of the Environment's list describes as steady in volume all year, and Onuma's old road, Inn Street, held a transfer stop between two horse tramways
03The Jomon Miyanomae site yielded a pot with a hanging handle; the town's "Katsura" is thought to come from the Katsura River, and Keibayama in Shimokurechi is said to have hosted horse races in the Meiji era

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nishikatsura Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗