Okayama Travelogue

Kurashiki: Time slip to an era of monochrome storehouses, weeping willows, and stone bridges

Okayama University is located a few kilometers from Kurashiki—a town of exquisitely preserved white-walled-black tiled storehouses sharing the banks of a canal with weeping willows, mills, and shops. Kurashiki—literally translated 'town of storehouses'—had its heyday in the Edo era (1603–1867) as a rice distribution center, and later in textiles during the Meiji era in the late 1800s.

The Bikan area is of the focal point of old-Kurashiki with its rows of stunningly preserved black and white warehouses, which have been converted to shops, traditional Japanese restaurants, and museums. One particular place to visit during a stroll through Kurashiki is the Ohara Museum of Art—opened in 1930 by Kurashiki entrepreneur Magosaburo Ohara, as Japan's first museum displaying western art.

Okayama University students are admitted free.

Further information
Official website of Kurashiki City：http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/
Ohara Museum of Art：http://www.ohara.or.jp/200707/eng/menu.html