Locals Promote Japan’s Kofu as UFO City; Activities in 2025 Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Alleged Alien Encounter

Satoshi Sugawara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:18 JST, February 21, 2025

KOFU — Locals in the city of Kofu plan to hold an event to promote the city this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of an incident in which two boys claimed to have witnessed an unidentified flying object landing and encountered a space alien.

The incident occurred in February 1975 in a vineyard in Kofu. The boys, who were then second graders in elementary school, say they saw the UFO landing there.

The incident is still known among UFO geeks, who call it “the Kofu incident.” Locals planning the commemoration said they want to revitalize the city using memories of the incident and UFO-related attractions.

The boys claim they saw a saucer-shaped object giving off an orange light land in a vineyard in the city’s Kamicho district on the afternoon of Feb. 23, 1975, while they were playing nearby.

The boys said they turned away from it in fear. But one of them felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back around. He then saw a space alien that was about one meter tall and had brown skin and long ears.

One of them was petrified with terror and the other picked him up and ran off, carrying him on his back.

Some neighbors near the site also said they saw the UFO. A local newspaper carried an article headlined, “UFO appears in Kofu?!” and showed “traces of the landing” such as a concrete pillar leaning at an angle.

Partly because of an occult boom that was going on in the nation in those years, the report attracted a lot of attention. But as time passed, fewer and fewer people remembered it.

Kiichi Tokutake, 37, a local radio station personality who moved to Kofu from Chiba Prefecture in 2018, developed an interest in the incident. Through a radio program, he learned it was one of “the three great Japanese UFO incidents.”

He began making plans to revitalize the city and established a general incorporated foundation, UFOKOFU1975, with like-minded locals in August 2023.

They have done activities such as making an alien costume and participating in events inside and outside of the city, as well as teaming up with a confectionery store to sell “UFO Dorayaki” sweets.

Last year, the Japan Anniversary Association certified Feb. 23 as “Kofu UFO Day.”

Katsuhiro Yamahata, 58, a company employee in Minami-Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture, helps with the activities. He was the boy who was tapped on the shoulder by the space alien.

He recalled the incident as “such a frightening experience that I still can’t spend time alone.”

People said some vicious things about him, causing him to keep his mouth shut about his experience. However, he began talking about the incident several years ago, saying, “It’s alright if I can contribute to revitalization of the city even a little bit.”

In early February, Tokutake and his fellows put up panels explaining the incident near the spot where it happened, which is now a residential area, as well as a board where visitors can take pictures with their heads on an alien’s body.

On Sunday, the foundation will hold an event in Kofu with Yamahata as a guest.

Tokutake said, “We aim to make Kofu a city which comes up whenever people talk about UFOs. I hope our activities will create opportunities for other people to learn about the charm of this city and the surrounding areas.”