   is the capital city of yamanashi prefecture in japan. as of may 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 197,540, with 85,794 households and a population density of 929.99 persons per kmÂ². the total area is 212.41 kmÂ². ==history== thumb|1907 kofu flood thumb|kÅfu thumb|right| takeda shingen festival in april kÅfu's name means "capital of kai province". during the sengoku period, it was the stronghold of takeda shingen. centuries ago the area which today is referred to as yamanashi prefecture was known as kai province. at that time the geographical denomination of ken (prefecture), was not yet in use, and the area was categorized as a fu. located in the center of kai, kÅfu's name was derived from a combination of kanji used in both kai and fu. alternate pronunciation of the characters resulted in the modern name of kÅfu. archaeologists have discovered evidence of human settlement in the kÅfu area dating back as far as 6000 years bce. however, the town of kÅfu was not formally established until 1519. during world war ii, much of the city was destroyed by united states army air forces b-29 superfortress bombers during a major air raid during the night of 6 july 1945. kÅfu is designated as one of the special cities of japan. on march 1, 2006, kÅfu, with a population of 193,795, absorbed the town of nakamichi (from higashiyatsushiro district),
Cities_in_Yamanashi_Prefecture Populated_places_established_in_1519