Scramble City

Yamako, the department store near the south exit of Kofu station, has been closed for a few months now. And though many may feel sad to see it go, I imagine there’s also some excitement as to what will replace it. I’d love to have a Costco, though I doubt there’s enough space or a way to handle traffic. A Shake Shack or Krispy Kreme would fit but Kofu doesn’t seem to fit into their expansion plans. Some students told me they want another department store like Parco or Marui. My friend just wants them to keep the escalator. My wife just wants the Starbucks back. I’d like to see the building, and the escalator, preserved, and a Starbucks would be fine. I have an idea of how best to use the rest of the building.

*This will be my first entry tagged A Better Kofu. I don’t expect my ideas to be taken seriously. I’m only stating what I see as positives and not really considering the negatives.

Before I suggest what would suit the city of Kofu, I want to draw attention to what the city is. It is a capital city. No particular insight there. As far as prefectural capitals go, it’s quite small. One of the four smallest by population. I’ve been to a few other prefectural capitals. I don’t want to contrast Kofu too much with them. Aomori and Takamatsu have harbors that contribute to their atmospheres. My trips to Nagano revolve around a single restaurant. I always stayed in my friend’s neighborhood in Gifu. Nagoya and Yokohama are just huge. Kyoto and Tokyo are something else entirely. But keeping capitals in mind, something about Kofu sets it apart. Kofu’s “capital-ness” stands out because, when I walk around downtown Kofu, the prefectural buildings are right there (south exit), the national government building is right over there (north exit.) Then there’s the city hall, the police station, the court house. The Yamanashi Library. Certainly, my perspective changes when traveling, but thinking about other cities, I don’t remember government buildings. I remember the sites and the shopping. Additionally, near Kofu Station we have the NHK building and the YBS building. Not that I don’t value all these services, and I find some of the buildings attractive. It’s just that I visit them when I have some task to complete and then I move on.

So, in an effort to liven up Kofu, and with Yamako leaving behind an empty building, I suggest a scramble. Assuming another department store or electronics shop is on it’s way, I’d like to find them a different home. We’ve got Celeo at the station already. Let’s move some of the prefectural offices into the upper floors of the Yamako building and get a shopping area behind the Kencho fountains. Meanwhile, in Chuo, we have Okajima Department Store, a Kofu institution. To the west is a street connecting Orion Square with Kasugai Mall. It gets a lot of foot traffic. And on this street, opposite Okajima….is Yamanashi Chuo Bank. It’s a very nice building, both inside and out, but I don’t think it complements Okajima. Yamanashi Chuo Bank would still be Yamanashi Chuo Bank even if it were on the edge of downtown. I wish the building instead housed something that invigorated the area, like good stores, restaurants, a gallery, or a theater. There are a few other sites we can include. Yamanashi is known for hiking - can’t we get a big, outdoor store (like Snow Peak or Mont Bell) downtown? So, with apologies and great appreciation to the people who work in these buildings, let’s mix things up.

The Players

Former Yamako Department Store (currently empty)

Proposed: Yamanashi Prefectural Offices

Prefectural Offices (left)

Proposed: Department or electronics store

NHK Building

Proposed: Outdoor goods

Empty (former pachinko parlor)

Proposed: Displaced NHK offices

Yamanashi Chuo Bank

Proposed: Community space

Another new condo, to the east of Okajima

Proposed: I don’t really know…I’m just surprised yet another condo is going up.

In the past few years, Volunteer Street has really taken a hit - Unitas moved to a new building, the massive 山梨産業保健推進センター turned into a parking lot, and the Volunteer Center itself moved out. With two empty buildings right across a wide, and usually empty street from one another, this area is dying for something new. Any ideas? Some sort of established retail store (Apple, Muji)? An open area for food trucks? What would you like to see?

The former home of Unitas

The former volunteer offices

Kofu, currently

Kofu, possibly