Fuefuki: Peach Blossoms, Views of Mount Fuji, and River Culture

Fuefuki is a place of pink peach blossoms, expansive mountain views, and seasonal riverside experiences. Depending on when you visit, different experiences come to the fore: spring brings blossoms and forest plants, while later in the year brings the peach and grape harvests. Museums, traditional architecture, and cormorant fishing also give your stay a range of different highlights.

Peach Blossoms and Expansive Views

In spring, peach blossoms turn Fuefuki’s landscape pink; the blossoms usually appear from late March to mid-April. At the same time, you can see the Southern Alps and Yatsugatake before the snow has melted. Surrounded by peach orchards, Misaka Togenkyo Park offers views of the Kofu Basin and the Southern Alps. A forest walking trail adds a route through the trees to the views across the orchards.

For views of Mount Fuji, FUJIYAMA Twin Terrace in Ashigawa-cho offers a different perspective. Its two terraces provide different views of Mount Fuji, along with expansive views of Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Yamanaka. In winter, the road to Shindō Pass may be closed, so check road conditions before your visit.

Experiences Through the Seasons

About 3,000 skunk cabbage plants grow beside the clear stream at Fujidate-no-Taki Okubo Iyashi-no-Mori Park in Sakaigawa-cho. Circular trails lead through the forest, which is surrounded by trees more than a hundred years old. The plants can be viewed from around mid-March to mid-April—a spring season that overlaps with the peach blossoms.

Harvest seasons bring their own highlights, too. In Misaka-cho and Ichinomiya-cho, you can pick and eat grapes, with the season running approximately from August to October. Peach picking begins around mid-June at several farms in the city and continues until approximately the end of August. Weather can affect the season, so it is best to check with the farm in advance. If you are choosing when to visit Fuefuki for its seasonal experiences, you can weigh up spring blossoms, summer harvests, and the later grape harvest.

Museums and Traditional Architecture

The Yamanashi Prefectural Museum in Misaka-cho presents the prefecture’s history from ancient times to the present through exhibitions and activities. Exhibition staff lead tours of the exhibition on Saturdays, and the “Terakoya Hiroba” mini-event takes place on Sundays; other hands-on events are also available. The Shakado Site Museum in Ichinomiya-cho displays 1,116 dogū figurines, including a birth figurine depicting a mother giving birth to a child.

Hatta Shoin in Isawa-cho is a thatched-roof shoin-style building in the irimoya style. Building materials that Tokugawa Ieyasu gave to the Hatta family, retainers of the Takeda clan, were used to rebuild it. At Hatta Shoin, you can see irises and lotus flowers in early summer and autumn foliage later in the year. The neighboring Hatta-ke Goshūin Yashiki is designated as a prefectural cultural property.

Cormorant Fishing, Wine, and Hot Springs

Isawa-cho’s summer cormorant fishing is a local tradition. In the Kachiu method, a single cormorant master walks through the Fuefuki River and guides the cormorant as it catches ayu; unlike the small-boat method, the bird is not guided from a boat. Visitors can watch the catch up close. During a seasonal ukai experience, participants wear cormorant master attire, enter the river, learn how to handle a cormorant, and try fishing for themselves. The season varies from year to year and usually runs from around mid-July to mid-August; river and weather conditions may lead to cancellations.

Fuefuki has around ten wineries producing wines with their own histories and character. At the tourist information center at Isawa-Onsen Station, you can sample wines from the city at a paid wine-tasting counter. Hot springs were developed in Fuefuki in 1961. Foot baths can be found in Isawa-cho and Kasugai-cho, including the Isawa Onsen Footbath, the park in front of Isawa-Onsen Station, Isawa-Kobayashi Park, and the Kasugai Footbath Facility.

Choose Accommodation to Suit Your Plans

When looking for a vacation rental, it helps to start by deciding which experiences you want to shape your trip: blossoms and harvests, viewpoints, museums, or river culture. Place names such as Misaka-cho, Ichinomiya-cho, Ashigawa-cho, and Isawa-cho offer specific starting points for choosing a location.

Discover more destinations: Nanbu, Minobu, Minami-Alps, Hayakawa, Tsuru, Yamanaka, Minamitsuru District, Fujiyoshida.

For the full travel overview: Yamanashi Prefecture.