Kurashiki Travel Video Guide

Kurashiki Travel Itinerary

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At first sight, KURASHIKI , 26km west of Okayama, looks like just another bland identikit Japanese town with a recreation of Copenhagen's Tivoli Park tacked onto one side. But ten minutes' walk south of the station, the modern buildings and shops are replaced by a delightful enclave of black and white, walled merchants' homes ( machiya ) and storehouses ( kura ) dating from the town's Edo-era heyday, when it was an important centre for trade in rice and rush reeds. The compact Bikan historical area, cut through by a narrow, weeping-willow-fringed

canal, in which swans drift and carp swim, is endowed with museums and galleries, the best of which is the excellent Ohara Museum of Art , containing four separate halls for Western art, contemporary Japanese art and local crafts. Hugely popular with tourists, Kurashiki can get very busy during the day; to appreciate its charm most, stay overnight and take an early-morning or evening stroll through the Bikan district, or visit on Monday, when most of the museums and galleries are shut.

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