A Day in Kiyosato

A Day in Kiyosato

Yamanashi may not be the first place that comes to mind when planning a trip to Japan, most tourists travel to Tokyo or other locations known for their history such as Kyoto. It was not for me as well, not until I came to Yamanashi for my university and truly discovered the prefecture. Yamanashi is famous for its fresh fruit, rich history, and of course Mt. Fuji. Yet, the place that impresses me – a girl from Hong Kong – is Kiyosato, which is a mountain area locates in Hokuto city, north of Mt. Fuji. Kiyosato is well-known to local Yamanashi people as a resort area but not much to foreigners. Therefore, I would like to introduce and highly recommend this location with several mountainous resorts surrounded by nature.

July – one of the hottest months in Yamanashi and in Japan, I usually preferred to stay indoors with the air conditioner on at around 19 degrees Celsius. Maybe because of the weather or conceivably the approaching finals at university, or considering the state of affairs in my homeland and being away from my family and friends, my mood was not the best during the time. Actually, the usual anxiety and depression experienced from being in a foreign country affected me more than usual this year. In response, I decided to listen to my friend’s suggestion and try doing something out of the norm to help ease my emotions. After several visits to some of the famous tourist spots in Yamanashi, such as Mt. Fuji, Kawaguchiko, et cetera, I decided to visit this place where I shortly visited during my practice in driving school in Kiyosato. I planned a one-day trip to Kiyosato and just gave myself a chance to take a bath in nature. Speaking of nature, I remember I used to long for nature and my favorite book was an encyclopedia of rare plants and butterflies when I was 8 years old, it was a utopia for me as I grew up in a seemingly concrete forest. However, my interest and aspiration toward the woods were lessened since I didn’t have much chance to explore. Therefore, I guessed this trip had the effect of refreshing my life a bit from the worries I was experiencing at the time.

Doryuu no Taki waterfall【吐竜の滝】

My friend and I left Kofu at 10am and grabbed a Starbucks Frappuccino and doughnut for breakfast and started the one-hour driving to our first destination – Doryuu waterfall. Doryuu in Japanese, literally means a vomiting elegant dragon. As I just got a driver’s license in February, the way to Doryuu waterfall was not easy, especially with my old car Daihatsu Esse, climbing the mountain road to Kiyosato was most tiring, but everything was for the beautiful view. We arrived at Doryuu waterfall at around 11 am, we left the car and started walking to the waterfall, the path to the waterfall was surrounded by giant trees, and the smell of the greens and blend with the burbling sound from the river progressively clear my mind. It was enjoyable just to be there, even though I am not used the forest road and I tripped myself a lot on tree roots and rocks, yet, it was still a pleasant experience. The sound of water was getting louder and louder, and we finally got to see the waterfall, and it was breathtaking. The streams of the waterfall from the cliff were full of green plants, which came together and formed a white dragon only to disappear into the river, it is not the most tranquil waterfall I have seen but definitely the most impressive. As I look closer to the water, it was so clear that I could look through to the waterbed and I just wanted to dive into the water. The surroundings were just so calming and healing, at that moment, I felt like the water just washed off all the unhappiness and stress in my life and I only needed to focus to the view. As much as I wanted to spend the whole day here, my hunger pangs drove me back to reality and we went to have lunch in this local café called Coucou CAFÉ.

Kiyosato Terrace【清里テラス】

Our next destination after lunch was Kiyosato Terrace (Sun Meadows Kiyosato), which is located at the highest point in the Kiyosato, and it is famous for its breathtaking view at an altitude of 1900m with the vast “Yatsugatake Blue Sky”, also known as the cloud sea and the breaking view of Mt. Fuji and Nobeyama Highland. I had been wanting for an opportunity to visit this place ever since my local friend told me about how beautiful it is. Since Kiyosato Terrace is located at the hilltop, to get there, visitors need to take a chair lift. The ride was also fascinating, not only it made our climb a lot easier and less sweaty, but it also allowed us to get a bird’s-eye view of the forest and the mountain without any barrier. For a moment, I forgot the fact that I am acrophobia and just appreciated the landscape. The ride was around 10 minutes, and the second we get off, the breathtaking and enormous picture of mountains and cloud sky came into view, everything else just seemed so tiny and insignificant. Although it was quite crowded since it was on weekend, but the crowd couldn’t stop us to appreciate everything. There were some gigantic sofas on the cliff that we could lay down and enjoy our parfait with the enormous view in front of us. The experience left me speechless, and I just tried my best to leave everything behind and enjoy the moment.

Moegi no Mura Village【萌木の村】

Around 4pm, we left beautiful Kiyosato Terrace to our third destination – The village of Moegi. Different from other spots we went to, the village of Moegi is a resort area that consists of stores that sell handmade products made from natural materials. It is like the first step to nature for city people like me. The stores in the village of Moegi have a good variety of products for sale. For example, one store named Shizenbokukobo Ono 自然木工房ＯＮＯ sells handicrafts made out of the natural woods from the nearby forest, the other store named pasticceria Zia Maria sells handmade sweets and jam, which are made from fruits produced from the Minami-alps city, Yamanashi. There are also countless shops that sell handicrafts made by local artists. Everything here is so new and refreshing compared to Hong Kong. I rarely get in touch with various organic products and I enjoyed myself a lot in the village.

Dinner in Tasha 【ターシャ】

We ended our day in Kiyosato by having dinner in this famous local restaurant called Tasha, which uses a giant stove to cook their meat dishes, the use of antique stove adds a unique smokiness and combines well with the juiciness of the steak. The vegetables provided are produced by an organic farm owned and operated by Tasha. This Friday in Kiyosato, and I would agree that this is definitely one of the best days ever since coming to Japan. This Kiyosato experience is a stone throw away from Tokyo and is the ideal place to unwind from the hustle and bustle that can consume happiness and inner peace. Kiyosato is the perfect destination where you can not only restore your inner self and reenergize, but also to have the time of your life experiencing the jewels it has to offer.

“KIYOSATO Terrace: Sunmeadows Kiyosato.” Sun Meadows,
www.sunmeadows.co.jp/tips/kiyosato_terrace_en/

Artemis Chan