In the sixteenth century, the warlord Takeda Shingen built a series of levees and stone barriers along the Kamanashi river at Ryūō to tame its floods, and the system, called Shingen-zutsumi, still protects the Kōfu basin today. The levee is planted with bamboo and trees, and a park along the river commemorates the work. It is a reminder that Shingen, famous as a general, was also a canny administrator.
Ryūō lies on the western side of the Kōfu basin, in Yamanashi, where the flat valley floor is covered with orchards of grapes and peaches. Yamanashi is Japan's fruit bowl, and the roadside stalls sell fruit in summer and autumn. It is also the heart of Japanese wine, with wineries scattered through the valley.
The views are spectacular on a clear day. To the west, the peaks of the Southern Alps rise steeply from the basin, and to the south, Mount Fuji peeks over the hills. The Misaka pass, south of Kōfu, was made famous by the writer Dazai Osamu, who stayed at a tea house there and wrote about the view of Fuji.
The riding around Ryūō is a mix of busy national roads and quiet orchard lanes, with the mountains always in view. Route 52 heads south towards the Fuji river, and the roads into the Southern Alps are steep and winding. Ryūō is a practical stop, with fuel and konbini along the national road. In late summer, pull in at any orchard stall with grapes stacked on the counter; a bunch of Kyohō grapes, dark, sweet and cold from the cooler, is the best thing you will eat all day.