Pre-history to the 14th century
As in most other Japanese regions, prehistoric society in Yamanashi progressed though 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 (currently in 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.
15th to 19th centuries
Among the many Kaigenji generations, those of the 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 and Toyotomi clans before being subsumed into the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Beneath the Edo shogunate, the Kofu 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 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.
19th century to present
After the Meiji government entered Kōfu Castle in 1868, the domain of the Kaifu government became Kai Prefecture. This province was renamed Kōfu Prefecture in 1869; and Yamanashi Prefecture in 1871. The anniversary of 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 textile and wine making industries. In 1903, the Chūō Railway Line from central Tokyo reached Kōfu, reducing journey times to the Capital and bringing significant change to local industry and culture.
Agricultural production in farm towns was small and from the 1910s through the 1920s there was much tenant strife. In 1926, the Minobu Railway Line connecting Kōfu with Shizuoka Prefecture opened, bringing to an end to Fuji River transportation.
The capital city, Kōfu, suffered heavy bombing during World War II. In 1945, as part of governmental occupation reforms, agricultural land reforms increased the number of individual farms and introduced fruit farming to the region.
Industry 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. However, in common with many similar sized cities during the period, the rapid growth in car ownership and out of town shopping, caused a significant drop in commercial activity and land values in the center of the prefectural capital Kofu.
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 km section of the SCMaglev test track, a section of the planned Chūō Shinkansen. The maglev line is designed to ultimately connect Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka with a station also planned to the South of Kofu, Yamanashi.
Central Government permission to proceed with an extension to a further extension to the test track was granted on May 27, 2011 and construction has already advanced as far as Fuefuki.
JR Central is considering opening a demonstration service from a new station in Kofu by the 2020 Summer Olympics so that visitors can also ride on the experimental track through the Yamanashi mountains.