AnimeTrailPractical trip plans for anime pilgrimages in Japan

Yuru Camp△ × Yamanashi · 2 nights / 3 days

Three days, one area at a time

A third day is not about adding stops. It is about spending a full day in each of the three landscapes instead of driving between them: the club’s day out in Yamanashi City, the valley the characters live in, and the lake where the story begins. You arrive at Lake Motosu last, on purpose.

Duration
3 days / 2 nights
Start and end
Shinjuku Station
Overnight
Kofu or Isawa-Onsen, then Shimobe-Onsen (Koan as a car-only alternative)
Back in Shinjuku
17:58 (Sat/Sun/hol 17:54)
On this page

The short version

  • Day 1 stays fixed. Days 2 and 3 are two blocks, and with a rental car you can swap them if your second night lets you.
  • With a car, Lake Shibire joins the route — the one place two days almost always loses.
  • Without a car, Lake Shibire comes off and the Minobu station front comes back on.
  • The second night shapes the trip most. Shimobe-Onsen is the standard and the one the hour-by-hour plans use; Koan is the car-only alternative.

What the extra night actually buys

In two days you are always deciding what to cut. In three, the arithmetic changes rather than simply loosening.

  • Time to walk Shonin-dori in front of Minobu Station instead of passing through it.
  • Lake Shibire back on the main route, if you are driving.
  • One theme per day — Yamanashi City, the Kyonan valley, Lake Motosu — rather than three areas in one afternoon.
  • A second night that can be chosen for immersion or for flexibility.
  • Meals and hot springs treated as part of the trip rather than gaps between drives.

If Yamanashi is a side trip from Tokyo, two days is enough. If Yuru Camp△ is the reason you came to Japan, the third day is where the trip stops feeling rushed.

See the 2-day version instead

One fixed day, then two blocks

Day 1 is also your travel day from Tokyo, so it stays in Yamanashi City. The other two days are separate blocks, and on the rental car plan you can run them in either order.

DayThemeAreasOvernight
Day 1 · fixedThe club’s day outYamanashi City, Fuefukigawa Fruit Park, Hottarakashi OnsenKofu, Isawa-Onsen or near Fruit Park
Block ARin and Nadeshiko’s YamanashiLake Shibire (car only), Minobu, Kai-TokiwaShimobe-Onsen, or Koan with a car
Block BBack to where it startedKoan, Lake Motosu, Lake Motosu Observation ParkReturn to Tokyo

Run them as A then B and you move north to south-west, deeper into the story, finishing at Lake Motosu. Swapping the two is a rental car option only: if the forecast is better on the earlier day, you can drive to Lake Motosu first, provided your second night allows it. On the public transport plan the order is fixed — Day 3 is a return trip to Lake Motosu from Shimobe-Onsen, which only works once you have already come down the Minobu Line on Day 2.

Where these places are

Schematic map of the Yuru Camp△ Yamanashi tripNot to scale. The JR Chuo Line runs from Shinjuku west to Yamanashishi and Kofu. From Kofu the JR Minobu Line runs south through Kai-Tokiwa and Shimobe-Onsen to Minobu. Lake Motosu and the Koan campground lie east of Shimobe-Onsen, reached by taxi or car on Route 300. Fruit Park and Hottarakashi Onsen lie north of Yamanashishi Station. On the three-day driving plan, Lake Shibire lies east of the Minobu Line, in the hills above the Fuji River valley between Kajikazawaguchi and Kai-Tokiwa, reached only by car.Mt. FujiRoute 300 · taxi or carJR Chuo Line (JR East)to FujiJR Minobu Line (JR Central)IC cards end here (Kajikazawaguchi)ShinjukuYamanashishi Sta.Fruit ParkHottarakashi OnsenKofuKai-TokiwaSchool model siteShimobe-OnsenMinobuKoan · Lake MotosuObservation park (car only)Lake Shibire (car only)
Station
Place in the anime
JR line
Taxi, bus or car
Walk

The same schematic map as the two-day trip, with Lake Shibire added. It is not to scale; what it shows is which legs are rail and which are road.

Day 1 stays on the JR Chuo Line side: Yamanashishi Station, Fruit Park and Hottarakashi Onsen, then down to Kofu for the night.

Day 2 runs south along the JR Minobu Line to Kai-Tokiwa, the school model site and Shimobe-Onsen. Lake Shibire sits east of the line, up in the hills above the Fuji River valley, and is on the driving plan only.

Day 3 leaves the railway: Route 300 east from Shimobe-Onsen to Lake Motosu and Koan, by car or booked taxi.

Where you spend the second night

Shimobe-Onsen is the standard here: the hour-by-hour plans on the next two pages are both built on it, and both have been checked end to end. Koan is the alternative, for a rental car only, and taking it means rebuilding part of the plan yourself.

Compared onKoan (alternative, car only)Shimobe-Onsen (standard)
What you getYou sleep at the location itselfHot spring, plus room to move the days around
Morning at the lakeOpen your eyes and it is thereDrive or take a booked taxi over in the morning
Swapping days 2 and 3Effectively fixedEasy to swap by weather — with a car. The public transport plan is fixed either way.
Hour-by-hour planNot written yet — you rebuild the end of Day 2 and the morning of Day 3Ready on the next two pages, checked end to end
SuitsImmersion above everything, and happy to plan the gap yourselfA first visit, with fewer ways to go wrong

Compare the properties in the lodging guide

Choose how you get around

These are not the same route with different vehicles. They visit different places and are timed differently.

Rental car

Kofu out, Kofu back

About 160–175 km over three days, all of it on ordinary roads. Lake Shibire is on the route, and each day ends where you sleep rather than where the last train goes.

Adds
Lake Shibire and the Lake Motosu Observation Park
Book ahead
A car for roughly 52 hours, plus a licence valid in Japan
Where you sleep
Kofu, then Shimobe-Onsen — Koan is possible, but the plan below assumes Shimobe-Onsen
Hardest part
The final 600 m single-lane approach to Lake Shibire

View the rental car plan

Public transport

The Minobu Line as the trip

Lake Shibire comes off the route; the Minobu station front goes back on. Riding the local line through the valley is part of the experience rather than a compromise.

Adds
Unhurried time in front of Minobu Station
Book ahead
Taxis on Day 1 and Day 3, booked as round trips
Where you sleep
Kofu, then Shimobe-Onsen
Hardest part
Trains run once or twice an hour on the Minobu Line

View the public transport plan

Related · Continue planning

Sources and check dates

Sources used to verify the facts on this page. Times, fares and opening hours change; confirm them again for your travel date.

Checked: Train and bus times 6 Sep 2026; facilities and fares 6 Sep 2026; lodging 6 Sep 2026