basic information

Mitake Shosenkyo near the city of Kofu, is considered Japan's most beautiful gorge. It is part of the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, which covers more than 1250 square kilometers of forested mountains, valleys and some rural towns in the prefectures of Yamanashi, Saitama, Nagano and Tokyo.

A hiking road leads for about four kilometers along the Arakawa River from the Nagatoro Bridge to the Sengataki Waterfall, offering beautiful scenery of the mountain river and the narrow valley with its interestingly shaped rocks, many of which are named after animals or items, they resemble.

The lower section of the hiking road (about 3 km) from "Shosenkyo-guchi" bus stop (near the Nagatoro Bridge) to "Shosenkyo Greenline" bus stop is paved and open to one way motorized traffic except on weekends from May to November, when it is for exclusive use by pedestrians and horse drawn carriages.

The upper section of the hiking path (about 1 km) from the "Shosenkyo Greenline" bus stop to the top of Sengataki Waterfall leads through the most spectacular part of the gorge and includes the sight of the 30 meter high waterfall.

Above the waterfall, there is a small village consisting of souvenir shops, restaurants and the terminal bus stop "Shosenkyo taki ue". It is also the departure point of the Shosenkyo Ropeway, which provides access to an observation point with panoramic views of the Southern Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji on clear days.

The Shosenkyo is particularly beautiful and well visited during the autumn leaf season, which typically reaches its peak from late October to mid November.

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how to get there

The Shosenkyo Gorge is just outside of Kofu City, the prefectural capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, 100 kilometers west of Tokyo.

From Tokyo to Kofu:

Kofu can be reached from Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo by direct JR limited express trains (90 minutes, 3510 yen one way) or JR local trains (130 minutes, 2210 yen one way, one transfer of trains along the way).

There are also frequent highway bus departures from the Keio Highway Bus Terminal in Shinjuku to Kofu Station. The one way trip takes 130 minutes and costs 1950 Yen.

From Kofu into the gorge:

Buses to the gorge leave in front of Kofu Station about once per hour. They take 30 minutes and 570 Yen to "Shosenkyo-guchi", 40 minutes and 800 Yen to "Shosenkyo Greenline" and 50 minutes and 870 Yen to the terminal stop "Shosenkyo taki ue". Above fares are one way fares.

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