Kōfu

Kōfu, capital, Yamanashi ken (prefecture), Honshu, central Japan. It lies in a fertile mountain basin west of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area.

Kōfu was long a centre of sericulture, but it adjusted to the decline in silk demand by producing other textiles, increasing viticulture, and developing nearby hot springs. Locally mined rock crystal became the basis of jewelry making, but most rock crystal is now imported. The city houses the Shintō Takeda Shrine, dedicated to Takeda Shingen. Pop. (2010) 198,992; (2015) 193,125.