KOFU

capital, Yamanashi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. Kofu lies in the fertile Kofu Basin, west of Tokyo. Long a centre of sericulture, the city adjusted to the decline in silk demand by producing other textiles, increasing viticulture, and developing nearby hot springs. Locally mined rock crystal became the basis of a jewelry industry, but most rock crystal is now imported. The city houses the Shinto Takeda Shrine. Pop. (1990) 200,626; (1994 est.) 199,347.