Yatsugatake Highlands: Hakushu Whisky, Forest Water & the Kiyosato Plateau — 2 Days

Suntory built its second malt distillery in a forest at the foot of Kai-Komagatake in 1973, drawn by the soft granite-filtered water of the Southern Alps — the source of the green-apple, herbal character of Hakushu single malt. The grounds hold the working stillhouse, a whisky museum, a bird sanctuary and the Hakushu mineral-water plant; the making tour ends with a guided tasting.

IMPORTANT: the making tour is reservation-only by online LOTTERY, applied for roughly two months ahead — you cannot count on walking in. The ~80-minute tour includes tasting; a multilingual audio guide is available. Free shop, museum and grounds are open without the tour. In Hakushu, Hokuto.

A seasonal open-air terrace on the distillery grounds, set among the trees, where you can sit with a Hakushu highball, a flight of the house whiskies and light food and simply take in the forest the spirit is made from. A relaxed, walk-in counterpoint to the structured tour, and a good place to land for lunch before the river valley.

On the distillery grounds and open seasonally — confirm operating dates and hours before relying on it, as it closes in colder months. Walk-in, no lottery needed. If the terrace is closed, the distillery shop and nearby Hakushu cafes are the fallback for a quick lunch.

The river that gives Hakushu its water tumbles out of Kai-Komagatake through a granite valley of extraordinary clarity — pools of cobalt and jade, smooth white rock, and a riverside trail that climbs past a series of falls. The lower loop from the Chiku-Komagatake Shrine trailhead is an easy hour or two; the full climb to the upper falls is a proper half-day hike for the fit.

Free, open in the green season; the trailhead is at the Chiku-Komagatake Shrine parking, about 15 minutes by car from the distillery. The upper trail involves chains and exposed rock — go only in dry conditions with proper shoes, and turn back at the suspension bridge for the easy version. Snowbound in winter.

A Mario Bellini-designed alpine resort on the Yamanashi–Nagano wine border, arranged like a Mediterranean hill town around a tree-lined 'Main Street' of wine shops, bakeries and restaurants. Beyond the rooms there is an indoor wave pool, a 'Books and Café' library and a strong wine programme drawing on the surrounding Koshu vineyards — a family-friendly, design-led base in the highlands.

In Kobuchisawa, with a free shuttle (~5 minutes) from Kobuchizawa Station. Rates from roughly ¥37,000+ per night (approx. 2026), varying by season and plan. Summer vegetable-harvest experiences run roughly July 1–Sep 30, 2026. A relaxed alternative to a traditional ryokan, good with children.

A highland farm park on the southern foot of Yatsugatake at around 1,400 metres, with grazing sheep, goats, ponies and cattle on open pasture and a long view across the Kofu basin to the Southern Alps and Fuji. Free to roam, with a shop selling the local soft-serve and dairy, it is the easy, scenic heart of a Kiyosato plateau day and especially good with children.

Free and open seasonally (the animals and facilities run roughly spring through autumn; check winter status). About 10–15 minutes by car from Kiyosato or Risonare. Bring a layer — at this altitude it is cool even in midsummer and can be windy.

A wooded village of craft shops, galleries, cafes and gardens that grew up as Kiyosato's gentle heart, with more than twenty makers' studios, a music-box museum, and a beautifully restored antique carousel turning under the trees. In summer it stages an open-air 'Field Ballet'; the rest of the year it is a relaxed browse for Yatsugatake glass, woodwork and woollens.

Free to enter; shops and the carousel are individually priced, the music-box museum a small fee. Open year-round, though winter hours shorten. About 5 minutes from Kiyosato Station. Easy to spend a couple of hours; the gardens are loveliest in early summer.

A Kiyosato institution at the edge of Moeginomura, a big timber-and-stone hall famous for its beef curry and for the Yatsugatake craft beers brewed on site under the 'Touzan' label. Rebuilt after a 2016 fire, it keeps the mountain-lodge warmth — long tables, a roaring stove in winter — and is the natural lunch stop on a plateau day.

At/beside Moeginomura, a couple of minutes' walk from the village shops. Beef curry roughly ¥1,300–1,800 (approx. 2026); the beer flight is worth it if you are not driving. Popular at weekends and in summer — expect a short wait at peak lunch.

Kiyosato boomed as a highland resort in the 1980s and the village around its little station still carries that fond, faintly kitsch retro mood — pastel storefronts, soft-serve stands and a pioneer-mission history begun by an American agriculturalist, Paul Rusch, whose legacy farm and chapel sit nearby. A short, easy wander to round off the plateau before the drive down.

Around JR Kiyosato Station, the highest station on the Koumi Line at about 1,275 metres. Free to wander; the Paul Rusch Memorial / Seisen-ryo area and Kiyosato's chapels are a short drive if you want the history. Many shops are seasonal — quieter and partly shuttered in deep winter.