Kurashiki :: The Gem of Japan

Take a concrete jungle fringed with plastic and blinking neon lights, add loudspeaker announcements, a sea of people moving like a tide among traffic lights, trains scheduled to the second, pings from Pachinko parlors, Sailor Moon uniform-clad school girls, a mix of new and old, a dash of imperial architecture and a pinch of the surreal and you have a glimpse of Japan.

But the land of the rising sun isn’t all that frenetic. Head south and you will find a gem of a place called Kurashiki. At first glance Kurashiki looks like any typical Japanese city—the main street leads from the train station and the noises thrive, but wait. Follow the street for another kilometre and like Alice down the rabbit hole, another world awaits.

Turn off Chuo Dori and suddenly the constant buzz stops. The speed of life slows as the road leads into the Bikan Area—an area that could have inspired Monet. Weeping willows lazily line the emerald canals, foot bridges arch across, and swans paddle through this picturesque scene. Huddled along the canals are clusters of traditional white and black-tiled warehouses once used for rice but now home to museums, galleries and ryokans.

Stroll further until you reach Ivy Square, a redbrick complex cloaked in ivy. People-watching and contemplation can be done in the open-air café in the middle of the square while listening to the soft trickle of water from the central fountain.

Continue to meander through the area for there is still plenty to discover. Collections of European and Japanese art hang in the prestigious Ohara Museum, and more galleries and museums dot the banks of the canals.

As evening falls, check into a ryokan. Enter the lodging and most likely a kimono-wearing woman will slide back the paper doors to expose a simple tatami-floored room equipped with stow-away futons, a coffee table, some floor cushions and the ubiquitous pot of green tea.

Dinner is served in a communal room void of chairs. Guests mingle and the host serves an array of Japanese dishes; enough to fill any belly. The day comes to a close as guests disperse one-by-one for their evening baths and tuck themselves into their futons for the night.

Seeing stars and hearing crickets is something that is usually lost in the bright lights and big-city clamor of Japan, but can be found in this quaint area of Kurashiki while experiencing a Japan that once was.

(submitted to www.bakpakguides.com for travel writing contest)