Mitake Shosenkyo near the city of Kofu, is considered Japan's most beautiful gorge. It is part of the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, which covers more than 1250 square kilometers of forested mountains, valleys and some rural towns in the prefectures of Yamanashi, Saitama, Nagano and Tokyo.

The Shosenkyo is particularly beautiful and well visited during the autumn leaf season, which typically reaches its peak from late October to mid November.