Wildfire Nears Settlement in Yamanashi Prefecture; Nearby City Government Issues Evacuation Directive for 143 Locals

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:03 JST, January 9, 2026

KOFU — A wildfire continued to spread on Friday in Yamanashi Prefecture after having broken out on Thursday on Mt. Ogi, which is located west of the Chuo Expressway’s Dangozaka service area and straddles the prefecture’s municipalities of Otsuki and Uenohara.

On Friday morning, the fire spread as far as a point about 150 meters from a settlement in Uenohara’s Ome district, which is located at the base of the 1,138-meter-high mountain. A firefighting helicopter was mobilized as efforts to contain the blaze continued. No injuries or damage to buildings have been confirmed.

The Uenohara city government on Thursday evening issued an evacuation directive for 143 people from 76 households in the district. Fifteen locals spent an uneasy night at two evacuation centers.