Currently, I’m leading my annual cross-country Cherry Blossom photo tour, and our first stop is Kofu in Yamanashi prefecture. Kofu has always captivated me both for its breathtaking cherry blossoms and its rich samurai history. One samurai lord (daimyo) is always part of discussions when Kofu is the topic, Takeda Shingen (武田 信玄). The main shrine complex dedicated to Takeda Shingen used to be his residence and has spectacular Somei yoshino (Prunus yedoensis) trees distributed all over the shrine’s grounds with their sparkling slightly pink tinted sakura petals lending a refined beauty to the shrine dedicated to Yamanashi’s most deified samurai warlord. The shrine is only one of the many remarkable locations throughout Kofu. Participants on this cross-country cherry blossom photo tour will be mainly experiencing cherry blossoms off the beaten path. We will visit the most ancient cherry blossoms in the region such as the yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura) among other trees that are hundreds of years old, some going back a thousand years or more. On one occasion, a visiting photographer half jokingly asked me, “So you say Takeda Shingen was great, where is his castle?” I’m happy to add some clarity to the armchair historians that visit and ask earnest questions, and I could tell beyond my participant’s initial bluster that he honestly wanted to know, so I replied, “He believed in his retainers and the people around him, and they believed in him, so even though his home was called ‘indefensible’, he was never worried and didn’t need a castle, as he considered himself a common man and walked among his people as such.” As Kofu is in a valley, he had fortifications, but no castle was necessary. I then follow up with more of Takeda Shingen’s more widely known accolades such as being called ‘the Tiger of Kai’ (the old name for what became Yamanashi prefecture) and some of his tactical brilliance, but in the end the conversation always returns to the breathtaking cherry blossoms before us and the once in lifetime photo ops that I share with my participants. According to Yamanashi folklore, Takeda Shingen was a naturalist who enjoyed not only the company of his fellow residents, but he also enjoyed flower arrangements, planting trees, and forest bathing (森林浴) shinrin yoku, and when in town, he mainly never needed a military escort due to his familiarity with all the people of Yamanashi. He treated everyone as his equal. Takeda Shingen’s subjects were treated well, not like dogs or as they were commonly referred to by other samurai warlords as ‘underlings’, and that’s why today he is still revered. Here’s an interesting historical tidbit regarding where Takeda Shingen is interred. During the Sengoku period (countrywide civil war), retainers in charge of a samurai lord’s burial would say the lord was buried in a certain place, but would keep the actual burial site a closely guarded secret. Samurai warlords who were widely loved and held in such high esteem as Takeda Shingen were buried like emperors with piles of gold, jewels, other finery, as well as a set of samurai swords, a bow, and armor as a tribute to the contributions they made during their lives. For this reason, to prevent graverobbing, the sites still remain a mystery to this day. He is also responsible for planting many maple and cherry blossom trees in the region, so when I visit the region I always wonder if the tree that I’m currently photographing was one that Takeda Shingen planted himself. But Takeda Shingen and many locals knew that Kofu had many treasures to share, one of them being the many silver and gold mines in the region for making maki-e, the practice of using gold, silver, or other precious metals etched into lacquer items. Another artisanal good that has flourished in Yamanashi is indenya, lacquer designs drawn or created on deer skin with a history reaching back over 400 years. I don’t take my participants on any of my Japan photo workshops for trinket shopping, but I do take them to a shop in Yamanashi that sells a large selection of indenya. That rich history means that his creation of indenya traces its origins back to the early years of the Edo Period of Japan. That history also means that their goods are an authentic part of Japanese culture rather than the ‘Hello Kitty’ shirts that I see at trinket shops that I am sure people take back as souvenirs from their visit. Kofu is also famous for its local agriculture, specifically grapes and peaches, the former being part of the reason why many wineries have opened in the region catering to a refined palate. Because of all its beautiful cherry blossoms and history, Kofu is part of my annual cross-country Cherry Blossom photography workshop tour.