The Tiny Town of Kurashiki

As part of our bus tour to see the Seto Bridge, we visited the town of Kurashiki. We had absolutely no expectations about this town. Nobody in Maki's family had ever visited before and all we knew was it was famous for textiles and pottery.

Boy were we surprised when we stopped at the Visitor's Center and started walking along the main street, which runs along a charming canal. Kurashiki has buildings that date back to the Tokugawa period during the 1600s. There are weeping willows that gracefully frame the canal, lots of little shops, and a couple of museums devoted to Kurashiki pottery and toys.

I bought some gorgeous cotton handkerchiefs and ogled the pottery, which was beautiful but no cheap. If there had been tiles, I would have been lugging tiles back to the US for my kitchen!

I found an article in the New York Times that dates back to 1985 where the travel writer remarks that Kurashiki is 4 1/2 hours and a few hundreds years away from Tokyo. Apparently, you come here if you want to see old Japan, slow Japan, more peaceful Japan.

Here's a photo of a few shops in Kurashiki. Note the textiles being displayed.

We turned a corner and was rewarded with this beautiful street, which is graced by weeping willows and runs along a little canal.

There was a couple in traditional Japanese dress getting married or at least taking pictures by the canal.

Here's a cute photo of Maki.

I think everyone is actually smiling in this photo. We're standing on a little bridge that crosses the canal.