Yamanashi Gokoku-jinja Shrine is located in the northern part of Kofu City, approximately 600 meters east of Takeda-jinja Shrine. It is dedicated to the spirits of the war dead and civilian army employees related to Yamanashi, including 25,062 fallen soldiers of the Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and Pacific War. As many as 300 cherry blossom trees are planted on the grounds of the shrine, making it a popular cherry blossom spot in the outskirts of Kofu City.
The shrine has its beginnings in 1879, when the spirits of 50 government army soldiers who lost their lives in a civil conflict were enshrined. It was relocated to its present location in 1944.
The site occupied by Yamanashi Gokoku-jinja Shrine today is the former site of Eikei-ji Temple. Eikei-ji was built in 1704 during the Edo Period (1603-1868) as the family temple of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, lord of the Kofu Domain. It was torn down in 1724 when Yoshiyasu’s son Yanagisawa Yoshisato, who subsequently became domain lord, relocated to Yamatokoriyama in Nara. A stone monument now stands in the precincts of Yamanashi Gokoku-jinja Shrine with an inscription marking the former site of the temple by its formal name, Ryukasan Eikei-ji.