Yamanashi Prefecture (山梨県, Yamanashi-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the northeast, Nagano Prefecture to the northwest, Shizuoka Prefecture to the southwest, Kanagawa Prefecture to the southeast, and Tokyo to the east.
Kōfu is the capital and largest city of Yamanashi Prefecture, with other major cities including Kai, Minamiarupusu, and Fuefuki. Yamanashi Prefecture is one of only eight landlocked prefectures, and the majority of the population lives in the central Kōfu Basin surrounded by the Akaishi Mountains, with 27% of its total land area being designated as Natural Parks. Yamanashi Prefecture is home to many of the highest mountains in Japan, and Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan and cultural icon of the country, is partially located in Yamanashi Prefecture on the border with Shizuoka Prefecture.
File:Paradeimregen5.JPG|Shingen-Ko (lord Shingen)... File:Paradeimregen4.JPG|and Takeda's army... File:Shingenko gundan.jpg|march through the streets. /gallery
Yamanashi is famous for its grapes and peaches. The centre of the prefecture lies in a basin and has quite a unique climate which makes its fruit very sweet. Yamanashi is the centre of Japanese wine making, with many companies large and small making wine in Yamanashi. Due to the sweetness of Yamanashi's fruit the wine from Yamanashi also tends to have a somewhat sweeter taste than is the norm, this can have rather mixed results when it comes to Yamanashi red wines, however Yamanashi white wines are delicious.
Hōtō is a wheat noodle that looks like wide udon. In winter, Yamanashi gets really cold, so it is sometimes eaten at home or in restaurants. The ingredients of Hōtō contains various vegetables, including: burdock, pumpkin, radish, carrot, taro, sweet potato etc. Its base is miso soup.
Yoshida Udon is a firmer thick Udon noodle soup. Served in versions ways with or without meat.
Basashi is another local speciality; raw horse meat.
Due to the car centric design of Yamanashi and the proximity of Tokyo there is little in the way of night life to be found in this prefecture. There are some pubs to be found in Kofu; however, Yamanashi is the Japanese wine capital, hence day drinking opportunities such as vineyard tours and Katsunuma's wine cave are a good option.
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Many points in Yamanashi can be reached by the JR Chuo or JR Minobu train lines, with Kofu Station as a transportation hub for the prefecture. The southeast part of the prefecture is accessible by the private Fuji Kyu line which connects to the Chuo line at Otsuki. The Fuji Kyu line, Minobu line and Koumi line are all single tracked so services tend to be infrequent and somewhat slow. The chuo line is largely double tracked hence has two or three local trains and two or three expresses per hour each way.
Most cities throughout the prefecture have local bus lines in addition to trains.
Public transportation in Yamanashi isn't the best and even the central Kofu Urban Area itself is designed around the idea that most people have cars. Driving is highly recommended to be able to see the entire prefecture.
Yamanashi is quite unusual amongst Japanese provinces in that its borders have remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. Formerly known as Kai Province (甲斐国), the majority of the prefecture is formed of the Kofu Basin, a flat plain in the centre of the prefecture surrounded by virtually impassible natural mountain barriers. Kai was once the base of the famous samurai leader Takeda Shingen, a man who once looked certain to unite the whole of Japan until his mysterious death whilst on campaign. The people of Yamanashi celebrate him to this day.
Though in terms of natural geography and history part of the Chubu region of Japan, in modern times Yamanashi has much closer links to Tokyo and the broader Kanto region thanks to its quick and easy train access to the capital. Its dialect is close to that of Tokyo albeit peppered with some unique local vocabulary.
For travelers, Yamanashi might be seen to be composed of several regions which are not easily accessible by each other. One is the Kofu basin, a large urban sprawl centered on Kofu City. The other significant area is the south eastern Fuji Yoshida area, home to Mount Fuji. There are also several other less prominent and more rural areas such as Hokuto and Minobu.
