Kofu JR Station 甲府駅, is located along Chuo main line 中央線 and the terminus station for Minobe line 身延線. Kofu is the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture and it takes approx 1.5 hours to reach here by limited express trains from Shinjuku Station 新宿駅. Kofu was also the focal point during my 9 days stay in Yamanashi Prefecture. From here, we visited nearby symbolic landmarks such as Kai Zenkoji 甲斐善光寺 and Takeda Jinja 武田神社; travelled northwards from here by bus to explore Shosenkyo 昇仙峡; eastwards to Fuji five lakes area 富士五湖 and Fuefukigawa Onsen 笛吹川温泉; westwards to Kiyosato Kogen 清里高原.
Limited express trains serving this train station include:
(1) Ltd Exp Azusa あずさ and Super Azusa スーパーあずさ, commute between Shinjuku and Matsuyama 松山駅, located in Nagano Prefecture.
(2) Ltd Exp Kaiji かいじ, commutes between Shinjuku and Kofu.
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What’s nearby?
What’s nearby?
(1) Tourist information center, located within Kofu Station South Exit Bus Terminal building.
(2) Bus terminal. There are two bus terminals, one on each exit of the train station.
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| North Exit Bus Stop 2, for buses heading towards Takeda Jinja. |
- Bus Stop 3 for Yamanashi Kotsu Bus 山梨交通バス heading for Takeda Jinja 武田神社
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| South Exit Bus Terminal. Tourist information center located within bus terminal building. |
- Bus Stop 4 for Yamanashi Kotsu Bus 山梨交通バス heading for Shosenkyo 昇仙峡.
- Bus Stop 5 for Fujikyuko Bus 富士急行バス heading for Fujisan Station 富士山駅, passing by Isawa Onsen 石和温泉 and Kawaguchiko Station 河口湖駅.
- Bus Stop 6 for express/highway buses heading for Shinjuku, Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya or Shizuoka.
Aeon Mall Kofu Showa イオンモール甲府昭和
〒409-3852 山梨県中巨摩郡昭和町飯喰1505-1
Ironically, there are no large scale shopping malls in the vicinity of the train station. If you are thinking of doing some shopping, Aeon Mall Kofu Showa is an excellent place to head down to. As it was still early after visiting Takeda Jinja 武田神社 on Day 2, I decided to utilise the dedicated shuttle bus, departing from Kofu Station Bus Terminal, to explore this mega shopping mall located about 30 minutes away by bus from the city center. At Aeon Mall Kofu Showa, international brands such as H&M, Gap and Zara and local household brands such as GU, MUJI, Seria (100 yen shop) can be found. Apart from restaurants, the shopping mall also houses TOHO cinema and a food court, named Food Forest (on the third storey), where we settled our dinner here before hopping back onto the shuttle bus heading for Kofu JR Station.
Bus fare = 210 yen (one way)
(3) Shopping malls
- Celeo セレオ, a JR managed shopping mall connected seamlessly to the train station.
Here, you can find souvenir shops selling goods originated from this prefecture, such as the signature Kikyo Shingen Mochi 桔梗信玄餅 - bite sized mochi covered with soy bean powder (kinako) and drizzled with brown sugar syrup. In fact, the huge popularity of Kikyo Shingen Mochi has coined an extensive array of merchandise bearing similar flavour as its predecessor, such as ice-cream, pudding, langue de chat and even Kit Kat! Rest assured that you will definitely be spoilt for choice when doing last minute shopping for souvenirs to bring back home at the train station. There is also a good variety of restaurants such as Aoba Ramen, Saizeriya, etc, located on the fifth storey of the shopping mall which are opened for business till 2130 hrs.
https://www.celeo.co.jp/shiten/index.php?scd=5
- Yamako Departmental Store 山交百貨店, located less than a minute walk away from South Exit.
There is a Starbucks located on the ground floor and a supermarket housed in the basement of the shopping mall.
https://www.yamako-dept.jp/
(4) Kofu Ekimae Post Office 甲府駅前郵便局, located less than a minute walk away from South Exit.
For Postacollect fans, remember to grab exclusive postcards released for Yamanashi Prefecture here!
https://map.japanpost.jp/p/search/dtl/300108186000/
- Celeo セレオ, a JR managed shopping mall connected seamlessly to the train station.
Here, you can find souvenir shops selling goods originated from this prefecture, such as the signature Kikyo Shingen Mochi 桔梗信玄餅 - bite sized mochi covered with soy bean powder (kinako) and drizzled with brown sugar syrup. In fact, the huge popularity of Kikyo Shingen Mochi has coined an extensive array of merchandise bearing similar flavour as its predecessor, such as ice-cream, pudding, langue de chat and even Kit Kat! Rest assured that you will definitely be spoilt for choice when doing last minute shopping for souvenirs to bring back home at the train station. There is also a good variety of restaurants such as Aoba Ramen, Saizeriya, etc, located on the fifth storey of the shopping mall which are opened for business till 2130 hrs.
https://www.celeo.co.jp/shiten/index.php?scd=5
- Yamako Departmental Store 山交百貨店, located less than a minute walk away from South Exit.
There is a Starbucks located on the ground floor and a supermarket housed in the basement of the shopping mall.
https://www.yamako-dept.jp/
(4) Kofu Ekimae Post Office 甲府駅前郵便局, located less than a minute walk away from South Exit.
For Postacollect fans, remember to grab exclusive postcards released for Yamanashi Prefecture here!
https://map.japanpost.jp/p/search/dtl/300108186000/
