Editing Yamanashi Prefecture (section)

===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.