Yuru Camp△ × Yamanashi

Yuru Camp△ in Yamanashi, from Tokyo. A trip you can actually book.

An E353 limited express train at a Shinjuku Station platform, the train that runs to Kofu — Every trip here starts at Shinjuku, on the limited express.

Nadeshiko cycles to Lake Motosu to see a mountain she knows from a banknote, and falls asleep on a bench before she gets there. Rin rides out alone with a stove in her basket. The club buys manju in front of Minobu Station on the way home from school. All of it was drawn from Yamanashi. The limited express from Shinjuku reaches Kofu in about an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters, and the locations lie beyond it.

Where you go

Three areas of Yamanashi

The locations are not in one walkable town. They sit in three areas linked by infrequent trains and mountain roads.

Episode 1

Lake Motosu

Koan on the lakeshore, where Rin finds Nadeshiko asleep on a bench, and the view of Mt. Fuji printed on the old ¥1,000 note — the one Nadeshiko came to see. Lake Motosu lies over a mountain road from Shimobe-Onsen.

Sign at Kofu Station pointing to Minobu Line platforms 4 and 5

Everyday life

Minobu and Kai-Tokiwa

Shonin-dori in front of Minobu Station, where the club stops for manju in episode 8, and the school site near Kai-Tokiwa Station. Both lie along the Minobu Line, where trains are few.

A tall glass parfait with grapes, peach and cream beside an iced coffee on a wooden table

The club’s first camp trip

Yamanashi City

The route the club takes in episodes 4 and 5: Fuefukigawa Fruit Park, Hottarakashi Onsen, and a fruit parfait by Yamanashishi Station, where the club meets up. The easiest of the three to reach by train.

The three areas are far apart

Lake Motosu cannot be reached by train at all; you go by taxi or by car. Minobu and Kai-Tokiwa lie along the Minobu Line, where the gaps between trains are long. Yamanashi City sits in the other direction from both. How many nights you have decides which of the three you can reach.

Choose a trip

How much time do you have?

Decide first how many nights you can spend away from Tokyo. That decides which areas you can include and where you stay.

1 night / 2 days

Fit Yamanashi into a Tokyo holiday

One night out of the city, and you are back in Tokyo the next evening. Lake Motosu is the main stop, and you will have to skip two or three places.

See the 2-day trip

2 nights / 3 days

Make the pilgrimage the reason you came

One area per day, with time to stop. The trip ends at Lake Motosu, where the series begins.

See the 3-day trip

Before you go

Practical guides for this trip

Read these in any order. They are written for this trip, not for Japan in general.

Trains & TicketsReserved seating, pass limits and the IC card boundary at Kofu.
Rental CarWhat counts as a valid licence in Japan, insurance, ETC and mountain roads.
Where to StayWhere to stay for each trip length and way of travelling.
Where to EatThe places from the series, and which of them are closed on the day you plan to go.
LuggageWhere to leave the large case in Shinjuku, and the closing time that catches people out.

All practical guides