Throwback Thursday: Kurashiki Bikan

It’s actually Friday over here, but it’s still Thursday back home in California, so I say this counts.

Jess and I went to Kurashiki during our week of sightseeing, but we went to so many interesting places that I forgot to write about some of them! I’m trying to remedy that gap now that my travel has slowed down.

Kurashiki is an appropriate throwback Thursday topic, because, really, the Bikan district is itself a throwback. The neighborhood is full of white-walled traditional Japanese homes, prettily lined up on either side of a central canal. (Yes, you can get a boat ride down the canal and feel like you’re in Japan’s Venice, though we didn’t do so.)

It’s the best place I’ve visited in Okayama prefecture for simply wandering, taking in the townscape, sampling local sweets, and buying souvenirs. Of course, if you want a more active itinerary, there are options. You can rent a kimono — traditional or denim — for your walk or boat ride. You can learn how to make traditional sweets (murasuzume). You can visit the Ohara Museum of Art, famed for being Japan’s first private collection of Western art (but now equally known for its Japanese art collection). You can play with cute critters at a number of cafes: hedgehog, shiba inu, Bengal cat, and owl.

I would also recommend Kurashiki as a home base for excursions. (If I were planning this trip over again, we’d do Takahashi as a day trip from Kurashiki.) The hotel and AirBnB prices are reasonable, the surroundings are prettier than Okayama city, and the train connections are excellent both to Okayama city and to the northern part of the prefecture.