Autumn In Shosenkyo, Japan

Thetraveljunkie.org – As soon as we got to Karuizawa we left our cases and went to Shosenkyo, where about 3 hours later, we came across one of the most beautiful places that we’ve ever seen, Shosenkyo Gorge outside central Kofu City, one of Japan’s most beautiful gorges. It is part of the Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, which covers more than 1250 square kilometers of forested mountains, valleys and some rural towns in the prefectures of Yamanashi, Saitama, Nagano and Tokyo.

Enjoy autumn leaves in Shosenkyo, a little slice of Heaven. Everyday has 24 hours and I try my best to make every minute count. Life is meant for living. Get out there and adventure!

A video posted by THE TRAVEL JUNKIE (@traveljunkieid)

And we went to the Shosenkyo Ropeway, which provides access to an observation point with panoramic views of the Southern Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji.

On Panorama-dai, we had a coffee to warm up and we saw all the autumn colors everywhere, it’s such a peaceful place. Walking around there is amazing and especially when it’s autumn (late October to late November).

Access: Kofu can be reached from Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo by direct limited express trains (90-105 minutes) or local trains (160 minutes, one transfer of trains at Takao along the way). The trip is fully covered by the Japan Rail Pass, JR East Pass and JR Tokyo Wide Pass. There are also frequent highway bus departures from the Keio Highway Bus Terminal in Shinjuku to Kofu Station. The one way trip takes 130 minutes. Buses to the gorge leave in front of Kofu Station once every one or two hours. They take 30 minutes to “Shosenkyo-guchi”, 40 minutes to “Greenline Shosenkyo”, and 50 minutes to the terminal stop “Shosenkyo Taki Ue”.