Shosenkyo Gorge

The Arakawa has cut into the granite of the Chichibu-Tama-Kai range above Kofu and left a gorge of pale rock walls, boulders and named formations, walkable on a path of about four kilometres from the lower car park to the top. Kakuenbo, a rock face rising some 180 metres, stands over the middle section, and Senga Falls drops around thirty metres at the head of the gorge. It is regularly voted the most beautiful gorge in Japan in domestic polls, a claim worth treating as enthusiasm rather than measurement, but the autumn colour here in the first half of November is genuinely among the best near Tokyo. The area was a centre of crystal quarrying and the carving and jewellery trade that grew from it still operates in workshops along the road. A ropeway from the upper end climbs to a ridge with a view towards Fuji.

What you actually see

• Granite walls - pale rock with named formations along a four-kilometre path.
• Kakuenbo - a face rising about 180 metres over the middle of the gorge.
• Senga Falls - a thirty-metre drop at the head of the gorge.
• The crystal trade - carving and jewellery workshops grown from local quarrying.

When to go

Late October to mid-November for the colour. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Autumn weekends jam the single road and parking fills early. The path runs beside the road for parts of its length. Fuji from the ropeway needs a clear day. The crystal shops are heavily commercial.

Nearby

Kofu and its castle ruins are south; the Fuji Five Lakes are further south.