Enkoin

Enkōin 円光院 was at first in Isawa and called "Seikōin 清光院", which was built in Hōgen era 保元年間 (1156-1159) . Then it was renamed "Jōjuin 成就院." In 1560, Takeda Shingen moved and reconstructed it in the current location. When his wife Sanjo-fujin 三条夫人 passed away in 1570, it was renamed "Zuiganzan 瑞巖山 Enkō-goji-zen-in 円光護持禅院" after her posthumous Buddhist name. Her grave is in it.




Hondō 本堂


A bell tower 鐘楼


Priest's quarters 庫裏


Kōfu basin 甲府盆地

Takeda Shingen's gravestone is in the vicinity of the temple. It is said that he passed away at Ina 伊那, Nagano in 1573 and he was cremated at the place near Enkōin. Then his cremains were buried at Erinji 恵林寺 in Kōshū city. Before his death, he had ordered his following to keep his death a secret for three years. Stories founded on it are played out in Kagemusha 影武者 by Akira Kurosawa 黒澤明.

■ Enkoin's Official Web Site (Japanese version only)

View Enkōin 円光院 & A gravestone of Shingen 信玄の墓所 on Google My Maps

■ Refer to Kofu-Gozan & Kai Zenkoji and Kai Pilgrimage

■ Reference Data
・Wikipedia
・Yamanashi Shinpō newspaper's site on Kai Hyakuhachi Reijō

AT A SPORTS PARK

There are a lot of filming locations in Yamanashi and some scenes of Water Boys 2 (2004) was shot at the athletics track field and the indoor pool / accommodation facility on the following picture. Also at an outdoor pool in the sports park, some scenes of Limit of Love: Umizaru 海猿 [also known as Umizaru 2: Test of Trust] (2006) was shot.

Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu)

"Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu いま、会いにゆきます)" is a Japanese movie, which was released in 2004. This movie in which Yūko Takeuchi 竹内結子 and Nakamura Shidō II 中村獅童 played the leading roles was mostly shot in Yamanashi & Nagano Prefectures.

■You can buy the DVD from the below link.

Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu Standard Edition
*Region Code: 2 (Japan, Europe, Middle East, and South Africa only)

Specifically, the scenes in the sunflower (himawari ひまわり,向日葵) -field in full bloom which was shot in Akeno, Hokuto city, provide spectacular beauty(refer to the site of PHOTO CONTEST in Akeno/Hokuto city in 2008).
View Akeno Sunflower Festival on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット The festa is held from late July to late August every year. This year it'll be held from July 25 to August 31. We'll be able to see more than 300 thousand sunflowers.
Edit4 :
明野のひまわり畑　Akeno Sunflower festival. (HD) by AQUA Geo Graphic on YouTube

・Akeno, Sunflower 明野、ひまわり on Flickr

Edit3 :
Hokuto city's official site (Japanese / English / Korean)
※You may be able to get detailed informations of the Sunflower festival if you follow the following steps : Click the link "English" (at the top of the page) →　Click the link "English Translation of the Webpage powered by Google" at the middle of the page →　Click the link of the picture "Sunflower Festival 2009"

Then in Akeno, there are "Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 (Heidi 's Village)" (Yamanashi Prefectural Flower Center), "OBSERVATORY of Institute for Cosmic Ray Research by University of Tokyo" and a lot of spots to get glorious view of Japanese-Southern-Alps. These facilities & spots benefit from the fact that Akeno has the best insolation conditions all over the country and we can have a lot of fine days throughout the year. In autumn, we can harvest Asao-Daikons(浅尾大根 a type of Japanese radishes), from which takuan (たくあん,沢庵 yellow pickled radish) is often made.
・Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 on Flickr

View 　Sunflower-field & Heidi's Village in Akeno 明野のひまわり畑とハイジの村 on Google Maps

Edit : on local TV news broadcasts on June 12, it was reported that sunflower's seeds were sown on the grounds in Akeno on the day and its flowers would start in blooming in about late july.

Edit2

"Direction of the Southern Alps 南アルプス方面" shot by chipo at Prefectural Flower Center,
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.