Editing Yamanashi Prefecture (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Historic Sites of Yamanashi Prefecture}}

===Pre-history to the 14th century===
As in most other Japanese regions, prehistoric society in Yamanashi progressed through the hunting, fishing and gathering stage of the [[Jōmon period]], then the rice-producing stage of the [[Yayoi period]] and subsequent village and regional formation. The Maruyama and Choshizuka [[Kofun]] (earthen burial mounds) located on Sone Hill of Nakamichi Town (Southern [[Kōfu]]) are believed to have been built from the end of the 4th century. From these remains it can be assumed that the people of Sone Hill had great influence.

During the [[Heian period]], [[Kai Province]] was created in this area.<ref name="nussbaum448">Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|p. 780|page=780}}</ref>

===15th to 19th centuries===
Among the many Kaigenji generations, those of the [[Takeda family|Takeda]], Ogasawara, and Nanbu families were particularly prosperous. During the [[Sengoku period]] of the 16th century, [[Takeda Shingen]] attained the status of [[daimyō]] and built Tsuzuji Mansion and the Yōgai Castle in Kōfu. From this base, he attempted to unify and control Japan.

After Takeda's death in 1582, Kai-no-Kuni came under the control of the [[Oda clan|Oda]] and [[Toyotomi]] clans before being subsumed into the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] during the [[Edo period]]. Beneath the Edo shogunate, the Kōfu clan (based in Kuninaka, or Central and Western Yamanashi) and the Yamura clan (based in Gunnai, or Eastern Yamanashi) were formed, but in 1724 the area came under the direct control of the Shogunate. With the development of the [[Japan National Route 20|Kōshū Kaidō]] (highway) and [[Fuji River]] transport, goods, materials and culture flowed into the region.

By the mid-19th century, the contradictions of military government and clan system caused stability to erode and resistance to erupt across Japan, paving the way for the [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868.

===Meiji Restoration (1868)  to end of World War II (1945)===
[[File:Shosenkyo-Waterfall.jpg|thumb|220px|Autumn at [[Senga Falls]], North of Kōfu]]

During the [[Boshin War]], the [[Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma]] on the 29 March 1868 was a significant battle between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces immediately prior to the Imperial Forces march on [[Edo Castle]]. Preceding the Kōshū-Katsunuma battle, Kōfu Castle had been captured by troops loyal to the [[Emperor Meiji]].

The province was renamed [[Kōfu Prefecture]] in 1869 and then Yamanashi Prefecture in 1871.<ref name="nussbaum448"/> The anniversary of this event on November 20, 1872, is now celebrated as Prefectural Citizen's Day in Yamanashi.

In the early part of the [[Meiji period]] (1868–1911), industrial promotion policies furthered [[sericulture]], silk [[textile]] production and [[wine making]] industries. In 1903, after seven years of construction, including the building of a nearly three mile long tunnel at the Sasago Pass, the [[Chūō Main Line|Chūō Railway Line]] from [[Hachiōji, Tokyo|Hachiōji]] and central [[Tokyo]] finally reached [[Kōfu, Yamanashi|Kōfu]]. The reduced journey times to the capital and the port of Yokohama brought significant change to local industry and culture.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ericson|first1=Steven|title=The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan|date=1996|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-82167-X|page=46}}</ref>

Agricultural production in farming communities was still on a small scale at the turn of the century and land reforms had yet to be introduced.  From the 1920s however, tenancy and contract disputes between landowners and farmers in Yamanashi grew increasingly common.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smethurst|first1=Andrew|title=Agricultural Development and Tenancy Disputes in Japan, 1870-1940|date=1986|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=0-691-05468-1|page=367}}</ref>

In 1926, the [[Minobu Line|Minobu Railway Line]] connecting Kōfu with [[Shizuoka Prefecture]] opened, bringing an end to Fuji River transportation.  The [[Koumi Line]] connecting [[Kobuchizawa]] to [[Kiyosato, Yamanashi|Kiyosato]] was opened by [[Japanese National Railways]] (JNR) in 1933, providing access to hitherto remote highland areas on the slopes of Mt. [[Yatsugatake]] in the North of the prefecture.

===1945 to present===
[[File:Katsunuma 5.jpg|thumb|Vineyards in [[Kōshū, Yamanashi]]]]The capital city, [[Kōfu, Yamanashi|Kōfu]], suffered extensive damage during a [[Bombing of Kofu in World War II|major air raid]] on the night of 6 July 1945.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ijiri|first1=Toshiyuki|title=Paul Rusch|date=1991|publisher=Forward Movement Publications|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|page=167}}</ref> From 1945 onwards, as part of economic initiatives introduced under the [[Occupation of Japan|post war Government of Occupation]], agricultural land reforms significantly increased the number of individual farms and promoted fruit farming and [[viticulture]] throughout the prefecture. At first with limited success in 1946, but on a much more sustained basis in 1951, dairy farming, introduced by American [[Paul Rusch]], became a feature of highland pastures surrounding the town of [[Kiyosato, Yamanashi|Kiyosato]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ishiguro|first1=Kana|title=There's cows in them there hills|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2002/12/08/general/theres-cows-in-them-there-hills/#.VEslyWIaySM|access-date=25 October 2014|publisher=Japan Times|date=December 8, 2002}}</ref>

Small scale manufacturing industries and commerce grew at rapid speed during the expansion of the post-war Japanese economy.  The 1982 opening of the [[Chūō Expressway]] also led to significant growth in service industries, transport logistics and tourism.

In common with many similar sized cities during the 1990s, rapid growth in car ownership, out of town shopping, and improved transportation links to Tokyo, caused a drop in commercial activity and land values in the center of the prefectural capital [[Kōfu]]. To counterbalance this trend the prefectural government launched a city center revitalization plan in 2008, promoting downtown tourist attractions such as redeveloped land North of Kōfu station, [[Maizuru Castle Park]] and new residential, cultural and government office facilities.

[[File:JR-Maglev-MLX01-2.jpg|thumb|left|MLX01 maglev train at the Yamanashi test track]]Planned changes in transportation infrastructure also promise to significantly impact the Yamanashi economy in the coming decades; under mountains in the eastern part of the prefecture is a completed 42.8&nbsp;km section of the [[SCMaglev]] test track, a section of the planned [[Chūō Shinkansen]].

The [[Magnetic levitation train|maglev]] line is designed to ultimately connect [[Tokyo]], [[Nagoya]], and [[Osaka]] with a station also planned to the South of [[Kōfu, Yamanashi|Kōfu]].<ref name="keikaku">{{cite web|title=中央新幹線（東京都・名古屋市間）計画段階環境配慮書の公表について|url=http://company.jr-central.co.jp/company/others/_pdf/info_25.pdf|publisher=[[Central Japan Railway Company]]|access-date=8 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613035129/http://company.jr-central.co.jp/company/others/_pdf/info_25.pdf|archive-date=13 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Central Government permission to proceed with an extension to the existing test track was granted on May 27, 2011.  At the end of 2013 construction was already well advanced as far as [[Fuefuki]].

JR Central is considering opening a demonstration service from a new station in [[Kōfu, Yamanashi|Kōfu]] by the [[2020 Summer Olympics]] so that visitors can also ride on the experimental track through the Yamanashi mountains.<ref>{{cite news |title=リニア山梨県駅、東京五輪前に 体験乗車に道 ＪＲ東海が検討 |date=14 January 2014 |url=http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDD1301M_T10C14A1TJC000/?dg=1|work=日本経済新聞| access-date = 14 January 2014}}</ref>