Moopon

Located in a former guest house of Okayama Castle, the quaint and small Hayashibara Museum of Art focuses on collections of traditional Japanese art, including displays of folding screens, kimono, pottery and swords. The founders are the owners of a successful local business, the Hayashibara family.

Hours: 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry is at 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (if Monday is a national holiday, the museum is closed the following day) as well as during New Year holidays. There are irregular closures between exhibitions
New Year holidays and irregular closures between exhibitions
Admission: 500 yen (an additional fee may be needed for special exhibitions)
English Information: Limited

During the Edo Period (1603-1867), Kurashiki was an important point along the distribution route of Japan's most important commodity, rice.

Large quantities of rice from the surrounding area were brought into Kurashiki and intermediately stored there in storehouses before being shipped to Osaka and Edo.

Because of the city's importance in the rice trade, Kurashiki was put under direct control of the shogunate, and the city was even named after its many storehouses (kura).

Canals were built to allow boats and barges to navigate between the city's storehouses and the nearby port.

A central section of the city's former canal system has been preserved in the Bikan Historical Quarter.

The weeping willow trees that line the canal and the stone bridges that cross over the water make for a picturesque scene.

Along the canal, there are many of the original storehouses that were so central to the city's identity.

Recognizable by their white walls and black tiles, the former storehouses have been converted into cafes, boutiques, souvenir shops and a number of museums.

Toy Museum
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 
Closed: January 1 
Admission: 400 yen 
English Information: Minimal

The toy museum consists of a number of converted storehouse buildings.

There are four main display rooms, which feature examples of old toys from all of Japan's 47 prefectures.

One room is devoted to variations of the popular daruma doll. There are also shops and a cafe.

Archaeological Museum
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (until 16:30 from December to February) 
Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays (except national holidays), 
December 29 to January 2 
Admission: 400 yen 
English Information: None

The Archaeological Museum was opened in 1950 in a converted storehouse, and explores the early history of Japan.

There are about 700 examples of pottery and other artefacts from early Japanese civilization, mainly from the region around Kurashiki.

Kake Museum
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30) 
Closed: Mondays (unless Monday is a national holiday),
New Year holidays and between exhibitions 
Admission: 300 yen 
English Information: None

The Kake Museum was opened in 2002, and displays art preservation and restoration techniques.

It was founded by the Kake and Takahashi Educational Institutions, and local universities are also involved with displays.

The canal area is a 10-15 minute walk from Kurashiki Station's south exit.

A main road, Motomachi-dori, leads south from the station to the canal area, but walking through the parallel shopping arcade is more enjoyable and almost as fast.

Travelers, who would rather not walk from the station, can take a bus to the Ohara Bijutsukan bus stop (2 minutes, 170 yen), which is located just beside the Ohara Museum.



 

The Ohashi family, a wealthy family among the merchants of Kurashiki, built the Ohashi House in 1796.  The house is a typical Kurashiki townhouse or machiya.  The house has the atmosphere of a wealthy merchant’s house with its elegant sliding doors and hanging scrolls in the tatami mat rooms.  In addition, there are separate private rooms, storage rooms and a kitchen.

There is a noticeable difference between the Ohashi House and other machiya. The Ohashi House is not built directly on the road.  There is a front gate and an open space area.  During the Edo Period (1603-1867), this architectural style was exclusive to the samurai residence.  The caste system dictated the samurais at the top of social scale with the merchants at the bottom.  The Ohashi House incorporating the architectural style reserved for samurais reflected the family’s local importance.
 
Location and Access Information:
From the northern end of the canal area, it was a few minutes by foot.  It is opposite side of the Motomachi-dori, main road.
From the station, go south on the main road (Motomachi-dori).  Turn right at the second set of the traffic lights.  Visitors can find the Ohashi House on their left, about 1 minute away.

Ivy Square is a complex of brick buildings covered in ivy.

This building houses cafes, shops, exhibition spaces, museums and a hotel. .

This is quite a pretty and interesting place to wander around.

The area was the site of the first modern cotton mill in Japan, and the brick buildings were originally built as part of the mill in 1889.

During the Edo Period (1603-1867), before the construction of the mill, the site was used as the office of the local magistrate, who exercised control of the city as a direct representative of the shogunate.

In building Japan's first modern cotton mill, the Kurashiki Bosekijo (Kurashiki spinning mill) company, also known as Kurabo, reaped the profits of introducing new industrial techniques to the country.

The company is still active today in the textile and various other industries.

Kurabo has built a memorial hall in one of the former cotton warehouses which traces the company's history to the present day.

A number of other museums are located within and around Ivy Square.