In rugged Yamanashi, a wild-goose chase for ‘real Japan’

Minobu, Yamanashi Pref. –

When my train from Shinjuku Station breaks free from the claustrophobic surroundings of Tokyo and its suburbs, the sight of Mount Fuji cresting the peaks curtaining the Koshu Valley is a breath of fresh air.

It’s not that Japan’s big cities are inherently suffocating, but the rest of the country is often so rural that even a few hours under the open sky of a prefecture or two away from the main population centers can seem like traveling to a different country.

Perhaps this is why when the Japan National Tourism Organization invited me on a tour of Minobu, a sleepy temple town in Yamanashi Prefecture, the agency branded it as a chance “to experience the ‘real’ Japan.”