[Japan Travel]: Kurashiki (Okayama)
Hello!~
It's finally time for another travel entry!! Yay!~
So, after visiting Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku for only 2 days, I was back on the main island (Honshu) in Okayama.
Because I've already been to the main attractions in Okayama city years ago, I went for some other sites this time.
First destination was: Kurashiki
Kurashiki is especially well-known for its various museums, but is also worth a visit because of the canal area and all the nice and old buildings around it!!
Welcome to the Venice of Japan?!
Kurashiki (Okayama) (April 2nd 2011):
In front of Kurashiki Station.
If you have some extra time, Kurashiki is definitely worth a visit. From Okayama city it only takes 15 minutes (and 320yen) by JR train!
In the station area I spotted this board full of advertisement. I only took this photo because I spotted a German word!
"Liebe" which means "love". It seems to be a pub called "love" ... is it really a pub or a "pub"?! ;P ..... Ahem.
The other boards are pretty much all advertising for pubs and snack bars, too! And some of the other names are quite amusing as well.
There are several ways to the museum/canal area from the station. I chose the one through the small shopping arcade rather than a main street. As it was still early morning, so the shops were closed and the arcade was empty.
Gave me enough time to take some random shots.
Again some carp flags as decoration for the upcoming Golden Week.
When I can't get real cherry blossoms, then I want to take photos of artificial ones at least [desperate laughter] ...
The shopping arcade itself was rather small and narrow, but there were some nice buildings and decoration.
This reminded me of Italy for some reason, so I took a photo of it.
Adorable!! It also tells you the directions and how long it'll take to get there (unfortunately only in Japanese).
Right when you come out of the shopping arcade you'll be in front of this shrine!
It's the Achi Shrine. The banner says "Kurashiki cherry blossom festival" - so I had high expectations!!!
However, they weren't in full bloom here either :( ....
And so instead I took some random photos.
But in the end I just can't resist the beauty of cherry blossoms!!
On my way again, haven't reached the actual shrine yet!! Several steps to walk up!!
There you go!
Finally up there and as you might have guessed, quiet a nice view from up there!
Let's see what they're wishing for. Most of them must have been students because they're praying that they'll pass their next test(s)! ^-^
I'm totally in love with the design of the rabbit on the ship!!! :333
On the ceiling of the "building" that you can see in one of the photos above there are the 12 Chinese zodiacs.
Quite spacious, so still lot of things to explore!
Oh, that's the first time I ever saw omikuji ordered by your zodiac!
ZOOOOM! And sooo adorable, too!! I've rarely seen such a cute monkey!! (^-^)b
Wow, that's quite a lot of (scary?!) Darumas!!
I adore the pink ones!! (*Note that colors for lucky charms often have a special meaning. Often but not always pink stands for good fortune in your love life, green for health etc.)
Holy stones!! Makes you wonder if they ever swear in Japan like "Holy tree!" or "Holy stone!" *lol*
And no, they don't! XD
JEEZ!!! I've been told about this fat guy several times, but I always forget what his name was and generally have no idea at all!! :( *headdesk*
Anybody cares to enlighten me, pleaaaase?! ^-^;
The shrine is surrounded by a small park (Tsurugatayama Park) which is also where I took this photo.
Really old and holy tree + random flower.
Here's a bigger version of it.
I decided to finally leave and went straight to the museum and canal area. Quite a dull day, huh?
Can you see the bird that I got just in the right moment it seems? ^-^;
The sun came through every now and then, though.
Just in case you can't notice (because it's still pretty empty), the trees on the right are all cherry blossom trees. Just imagine how awesome this shot would look if those trees were in full bloom! ;o;
All the buildings alongside the canal are really interesting, adorable and unique.
I really fell in love with this café. I didn't go inside, I just like the architecture!
Desperately trying to get some nice shots with cherry blossoms ...
Just a bit outside of the canal area I found this AWESOME, CUTE, but DANGEROUS "maneki neko" shop!!!!
They had EVERYTHING cat lovers need! Of course all sorts of maneki neko statues and goods, but also a lot of normal cat goods.
I really had a hard time deciding what to buy and holding back, tehehe~
One thing, among other things, that I bought was this cute cat bell strap, handmade with "Kurashiki" written on it.
Before walkig along the canal area I first went to the Ohashi house which is a few minutes away from the main canal area.
Some random shots I took inside.
Yeah, we all know that it's the year of the rabbit .... but they are cute, aren't they?! ^-^;
Extremely colorful, but they look kind of cheap. Probably replica anyways. They would never put real ones without any protection there!
You probably wonder what kind of house it is. Well, houses like this you can find in a lot of cities in Japan. Generally they're quite old and have some nice exhibition of items from a long time ago. The history of the house, the district and the people who used to live there.
It's definitely not interesting for everybody! Kurashiki is full of museums, though, if you're not interested at all, you might just wanna stroll along the canal area, buy some souvenis and then leave again.
I'm not a huge fan of those small private houses either, but it always depends. Everybody has to decide for themselves!!
It also depends on how much you have to pay! Sometimes entrance is even free!
And I left again. Not super interesting, but if you have enough time and money, you can go there, of course.
*lol*! They're cuter than the ones in my city!
I finally went back to the canal area. This is in front of the Ohara Museum of Art entrance area!
This one is huuuuuuuuuuuge!!! It looked like it would take a lot of time, was quite expensive and I have to admit that I'm not really interested in art (sorry! ;o; ...)
Dragon bridge rulez! Is that Shenlong?! XDDDD [/Dragonball insider]
And that's definitely one of the other things Kurashiki is famous for: the canal itself!
You can ride a boat, too, if you want to!! I didn't because it's just no fun alone! :(
I bet it's a nice experience, especially once the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! :)
That's what you get! That's Kurashiki at its best!!! What do you think? ^-^
The building on the left is a resting area with toilets, food and vending machines and (most importantly!) a tourist information center!
You can also get tickets for a boat ride there!
There were several tiny side streets leading away from the canal area full of tiny, lovely souvenir shops! ^-^
Towards the end of the canal area there is the "Kurashiki Ivy Square".
Tree or building?! XD
And then I found paradise!!! Some pink blossoms on trees - and in full bloom!!!!!
Again I don't dare to judge if those were really cherry blossoms, but I think so!
Looks relaxing ^-^
You might have already noticed that some areas and buildings are European style.
Well, it's called the "ivy square" anyways! ;)
Contrasts.
Sakura!!!!!! :33
I'm not sure if I really have to mention this or if you already know, but Okayama is famous for the "Peach Boy", Momotaro.
This photo was taken in front of the "Momotaro museum", but I didn't go inside! ;o;
*lol* Found another one just without color this time! XD
I was back in the center of the canal area and walked through the "Ohara Museum of Art" main entrance. You can go anywhere there, just not inside the buildings that have exhibitons or else you will have to pay.
However, I saw a small paper sign that said in scribbled Japanese that there's an exhibition of katanas and it's FREE OF CHARGE!!!
So of course I went in there to see it!!
Unfortunately I don't know much about Japanese swords, but I enjoy looking at them and find them interesting.
There were really a lot of single buildings which all seemed to belong to the Ohara Art Museum complex (not sure, though).
Next, I went into the "Kurashiki Archaeological Museum" and took a few photos in there.
Back outside again. It was really difficult to decide where to go next.
There were so many things to do and see, but it's impossible to do everything anyways.
Furthermore, I wasn't that interested in most of the museums ^^;
Thus, I strolled around a bit and stumbled upon a "Yumiko Igarashi museum!!!
I used to be a huge fan of "Georgie" when I was REALLY young! (^-^*) ....
I checked out the museum shop in the first floor, but ended up not buying anything. I didn't actually enter the museum in the second floor, though.
Back in the canal area. Yeah, I walked a lot of zig-zags that day! Basically I noticed at some point that I won't be able to make it to another destination outside of Kurashiki and so I suddenly had way too much time on my hands ^-^;
And you know me, I usually always have an extremely full schedule, so that was hard for me!! Hehe.
Cute!!! :3
Well, ... as I had so much time on my hands now, and because I got quite hungry I decided it was time to get something to eat: Bukkake udon.
Yeah, udon again. I asked the staff what the difference between "Sanuki udon" (which I ate in Kagawa) and those were, but generally it's the same!! Yummie!!
Btw. "kake" means always that something is poured over the food - in this case yummie soy sauce! ^-^
I'm not sure if you can actually see it in the photo, but it was quite a small portion!
I wasn't really full after it, but don't worry, there's more food to come later on! XDDD
Somehow you just can't get enough of this awesome atmosphere!
Beautiful swan.
The first time I ever saw a swan egg!!! I only noticed it, because a lot of people were suddenly gathering there, looking surprised. Just like some others, I climbed down there to take a few shots ^^;;
I was pretty much done in the canal area, so I decided to walk to the "Oyama Memorial Museum" as entrance was free.
Nothing special, so I ended up back in the canal area again XD
The streets became busier and so a lot of street sellers also put out there stuff on the floor!
*lol* Is that a trailer for "The Last Cowboy" or what? XD
In the end I decided to go to an insect museum. The weird thing about this was that it was in an actual HOSPITAL!!!
It felt kind of strange to walk into a normal hospital with a touristy attitude (aka map in my hand, camera around my neck).
Why the hell do they have an insect museum in a hospital anyways???!!! (Oh, and do you remember that I got extremely sick during my last few days and 1 week after I came back from my vacation? Maybe I got sick when I went to the hospital there! :( ....)
They had some really beautiful butterflies and some other nasty bugs there!
However, after being to Nagoya Castle, I think no insect museum can impress me anymore!! ^-^;
GAAAHHH!!!! THE HORROR!!! ;_________;
BIIIIG!! O______O;;;
Definitely one of my favorites!!!! (and reminds me of Paradise Kiss - just watched the movie yesterday btw.! ^^;)
Wow, these colors!!
(x___X) ....
Just couldn't resist. I mean "Tomato Bank"???!!! Hellooooo!!! XDDD
Found yet another one. I wonder how many different versions there are.
Back in the canal area, I got quite hungry again and as I had waaaay to much time on my hands I decided to go for some typical Japanese sweets - and sweets that are famous for the area, too!
And that's what I got! They even had a neat English menu!! ^^
I got the green tea with ginger btw. XD
Yummie!~
Back at Kurashiki Station. The weather got worse, too!
I decided that I would go back to Okayama while it's still daylight and just stroll around a bit there to kill some more time (T__T) ...
In front of Okayama Station. Luckily it didn't rain, but it was really dark and gray :(
I just walked along some main shopping streets and then suddenly hit a side street which had tons of cherry blossom trees along a small river!!!
Hmmmmmm. Okay, I give up. No idea! Plum blossoms?!?
Sometimes you really find the best things when you don't plan for them!!! ^___^
It slowly got dark and my feet started to kill me, so I decided it's time for dinner!
Nothing special here, just a normal Mr. Donut`s menu! ^___^ But it was sooo, soooo good!!! :3333
Camera(s) used:
Pentax K-x
And that was my (lazy) day in Kurashiki (and Okayama). My hotel was actually in Okayama city, not far away from the station, that's why I returned there after I was done with Kurashiki (in case you were wondering).
I'm not sure if Kurashiki's a must-see, especially if you're not interested in history, museums or art, but if you have time just a nice stroll along the canal area could be nice, too!! And afterwards you can explore all the small souvenir shops and eat yummie food!
If you're actually going for the museums, be aware that most of them are closed on Mondays!!
Next up is: Bitchu Takashashi (with Matsuyama Castle) and Kojima
As this is related to today's travel entry, let me have a short poll because I'm just curious: Chinese Zodiac
Poll Chinese zodiac
That's all for today.
Thanks so much for reading!
P.S.: If anybody ever wondered, it took me over 2.5h
to write this entry!!!!!! (x___X)
It's finally time for another travel entry!! Yay!~
So, after visiting Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku for only 2 days, I was back on the main island (Honshu) in Okayama.
Because I've already been to the main attractions in Okayama city years ago, I went for some other sites this time.
First destination was: Kurashiki
Kurashiki is especially well-known for its various museums, but is also worth a visit because of the canal area and all the nice and old buildings around it!!
Welcome to the Venice of Japan?!
Kurashiki (Okayama) (April 2nd 2011):
In front of Kurashiki Station.
If you have some extra time, Kurashiki is definitely worth a visit. From Okayama city it only takes 15 minutes (and 320yen) by JR train!
In the station area I spotted this board full of advertisement. I only took this photo because I spotted a German word!
"Liebe" which means "love". It seems to be a pub called "love" ... is it really a pub or a "pub"?! ;P ..... Ahem.
The other boards are pretty much all advertising for pubs and snack bars, too! And some of the other names are quite amusing as well.
There are several ways to the museum/canal area from the station. I chose the one through the small shopping arcade rather than a main street. As it was still early morning, so the shops were closed and the arcade was empty.
Gave me enough time to take some random shots.
Again some carp flags as decoration for the upcoming Golden Week.
When I can't get real cherry blossoms, then I want to take photos of artificial ones at least [desperate laughter] ...
The shopping arcade itself was rather small and narrow, but there were some nice buildings and decoration.
This reminded me of Italy for some reason, so I took a photo of it.
Adorable!! It also tells you the directions and how long it'll take to get there (unfortunately only in Japanese).
Right when you come out of the shopping arcade you'll be in front of this shrine!
It's the Achi Shrine. The banner says "Kurashiki cherry blossom festival" - so I had high expectations!!!
However, they weren't in full bloom here either :( ....
And so instead I took some random photos.
But in the end I just can't resist the beauty of cherry blossoms!!
On my way again, haven't reached the actual shrine yet!! Several steps to walk up!!
There you go!
Finally up there and as you might have guessed, quiet a nice view from up there!
Let's see what they're wishing for. Most of them must have been students because they're praying that they'll pass their next test(s)! ^-^
I'm totally in love with the design of the rabbit on the ship!!! :333
On the ceiling of the "building" that you can see in one of the photos above there are the 12 Chinese zodiacs.
Quite spacious, so still lot of things to explore!
Oh, that's the first time I ever saw omikuji ordered by your zodiac!
ZOOOOM! And sooo adorable, too!! I've rarely seen such a cute monkey!! (^-^)b
Wow, that's quite a lot of (scary?!) Darumas!!
I adore the pink ones!! (*Note that colors for lucky charms often have a special meaning. Often but not always pink stands for good fortune in your love life, green for health etc.)
Holy stones!! Makes you wonder if they ever swear in Japan like "Holy tree!" or "Holy stone!" *lol*
And no, they don't! XD
JEEZ!!! I've been told about this fat guy several times, but I always forget what his name was and generally have no idea at all!! :( *headdesk*
Anybody cares to enlighten me, pleaaaase?! ^-^;
The shrine is surrounded by a small park (Tsurugatayama Park) which is also where I took this photo.
Really old and holy tree + random flower.
Here's a bigger version of it.
I decided to finally leave and went straight to the museum and canal area. Quite a dull day, huh?
Can you see the bird that I got just in the right moment it seems? ^-^;
The sun came through every now and then, though.
Just in case you can't notice (because it's still pretty empty), the trees on the right are all cherry blossom trees. Just imagine how awesome this shot would look if those trees were in full bloom! ;o;
All the buildings alongside the canal are really interesting, adorable and unique.
I really fell in love with this café. I didn't go inside, I just like the architecture!
Desperately trying to get some nice shots with cherry blossoms ...
Just a bit outside of the canal area I found this AWESOME, CUTE, but DANGEROUS "maneki neko" shop!!!!
They had EVERYTHING cat lovers need! Of course all sorts of maneki neko statues and goods, but also a lot of normal cat goods.
I really had a hard time deciding what to buy and holding back, tehehe~
One thing, among other things, that I bought was this cute cat bell strap, handmade with "Kurashiki" written on it.
Before walkig along the canal area I first went to the Ohashi house which is a few minutes away from the main canal area.
Some random shots I took inside.
Yeah, we all know that it's the year of the rabbit .... but they are cute, aren't they?! ^-^;
Extremely colorful, but they look kind of cheap. Probably replica anyways. They would never put real ones without any protection there!
You probably wonder what kind of house it is. Well, houses like this you can find in a lot of cities in Japan. Generally they're quite old and have some nice exhibition of items from a long time ago. The history of the house, the district and the people who used to live there.
It's definitely not interesting for everybody! Kurashiki is full of museums, though, if you're not interested at all, you might just wanna stroll along the canal area, buy some souvenis and then leave again.
I'm not a huge fan of those small private houses either, but it always depends. Everybody has to decide for themselves!!
It also depends on how much you have to pay! Sometimes entrance is even free!
And I left again. Not super interesting, but if you have enough time and money, you can go there, of course.
*lol*! They're cuter than the ones in my city!
I finally went back to the canal area. This is in front of the Ohara Museum of Art entrance area!
This one is huuuuuuuuuuuge!!! It looked like it would take a lot of time, was quite expensive and I have to admit that I'm not really interested in art (sorry! ;o; ...)
Dragon bridge rulez! Is that Shenlong?! XDDDD [/Dragonball insider]
And that's definitely one of the other things Kurashiki is famous for: the canal itself!
You can ride a boat, too, if you want to!! I didn't because it's just no fun alone! :(
I bet it's a nice experience, especially once the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! :)
That's what you get! That's Kurashiki at its best!!! What do you think? ^-^
The building on the left is a resting area with toilets, food and vending machines and (most importantly!) a tourist information center!
You can also get tickets for a boat ride there!
There were several tiny side streets leading away from the canal area full of tiny, lovely souvenir shops! ^-^
Towards the end of the canal area there is the "Kurashiki Ivy Square".
Tree or building?! XD
And then I found paradise!!! Some pink blossoms on trees - and in full bloom!!!!!
Again I don't dare to judge if those were really cherry blossoms, but I think so!
Looks relaxing ^-^
You might have already noticed that some areas and buildings are European style.
Well, it's called the "ivy square" anyways! ;)
Contrasts.
Sakura!!!!!! :33
I'm not sure if I really have to mention this or if you already know, but Okayama is famous for the "Peach Boy", Momotaro.
This photo was taken in front of the "Momotaro museum", but I didn't go inside! ;o;
*lol* Found another one just without color this time! XD
I was back in the center of the canal area and walked through the "Ohara Museum of Art" main entrance. You can go anywhere there, just not inside the buildings that have exhibitons or else you will have to pay.
However, I saw a small paper sign that said in scribbled Japanese that there's an exhibition of katanas and it's FREE OF CHARGE!!!
So of course I went in there to see it!!
Unfortunately I don't know much about Japanese swords, but I enjoy looking at them and find them interesting.
There were really a lot of single buildings which all seemed to belong to the Ohara Art Museum complex (not sure, though).
Next, I went into the "Kurashiki Archaeological Museum" and took a few photos in there.
Back outside again. It was really difficult to decide where to go next.
There were so many things to do and see, but it's impossible to do everything anyways.
Furthermore, I wasn't that interested in most of the museums ^^;
Thus, I strolled around a bit and stumbled upon a "Yumiko Igarashi museum!!!
I used to be a huge fan of "Georgie" when I was REALLY young! (^-^*) ....
I checked out the museum shop in the first floor, but ended up not buying anything. I didn't actually enter the museum in the second floor, though.
Back in the canal area. Yeah, I walked a lot of zig-zags that day! Basically I noticed at some point that I won't be able to make it to another destination outside of Kurashiki and so I suddenly had way too much time on my hands ^-^;
And you know me, I usually always have an extremely full schedule, so that was hard for me!! Hehe.
Cute!!! :3
Well, ... as I had so much time on my hands now, and because I got quite hungry I decided it was time to get something to eat: Bukkake udon.
Yeah, udon again. I asked the staff what the difference between "Sanuki udon" (which I ate in Kagawa) and those were, but generally it's the same!! Yummie!!
Btw. "kake" means always that something is poured over the food - in this case yummie soy sauce! ^-^
I'm not sure if you can actually see it in the photo, but it was quite a small portion!
I wasn't really full after it, but don't worry, there's more food to come later on! XDDD
Somehow you just can't get enough of this awesome atmosphere!
Beautiful swan.
The first time I ever saw a swan egg!!! I only noticed it, because a lot of people were suddenly gathering there, looking surprised. Just like some others, I climbed down there to take a few shots ^^;;
I was pretty much done in the canal area, so I decided to walk to the "Oyama Memorial Museum" as entrance was free.
Nothing special, so I ended up back in the canal area again XD
The streets became busier and so a lot of street sellers also put out there stuff on the floor!
*lol* Is that a trailer for "The Last Cowboy" or what? XD
In the end I decided to go to an insect museum. The weird thing about this was that it was in an actual HOSPITAL!!!
It felt kind of strange to walk into a normal hospital with a touristy attitude (aka map in my hand, camera around my neck).
Why the hell do they have an insect museum in a hospital anyways???!!! (Oh, and do you remember that I got extremely sick during my last few days and 1 week after I came back from my vacation? Maybe I got sick when I went to the hospital there! :( ....)
They had some really beautiful butterflies and some other nasty bugs there!
However, after being to Nagoya Castle, I think no insect museum can impress me anymore!! ^-^;
GAAAHHH!!!! THE HORROR!!! ;_________;
BIIIIG!! O______O;;;
Definitely one of my favorites!!!! (and reminds me of Paradise Kiss - just watched the movie yesterday btw.! ^^;)
Wow, these colors!!
(x___X) ....
Just couldn't resist. I mean "Tomato Bank"???!!! Hellooooo!!! XDDD
Found yet another one. I wonder how many different versions there are.
Back in the canal area, I got quite hungry again and as I had waaaay to much time on my hands I decided to go for some typical Japanese sweets - and sweets that are famous for the area, too!
And that's what I got! They even had a neat English menu!! ^^
I got the green tea with ginger btw. XD
Yummie!~
Back at Kurashiki Station. The weather got worse, too!
I decided that I would go back to Okayama while it's still daylight and just stroll around a bit there to kill some more time (T__T) ...
In front of Okayama Station. Luckily it didn't rain, but it was really dark and gray :(
I just walked along some main shopping streets and then suddenly hit a side street which had tons of cherry blossom trees along a small river!!!
Hmmmmmm. Okay, I give up. No idea! Plum blossoms?!?
Sometimes you really find the best things when you don't plan for them!!! ^___^
It slowly got dark and my feet started to kill me, so I decided it's time for dinner!
Nothing special here, just a normal Mr. Donut`s menu! ^___^ But it was sooo, soooo good!!! :3333
Camera(s) used:
Pentax K-x
And that was my (lazy) day in Kurashiki (and Okayama). My hotel was actually in Okayama city, not far away from the station, that's why I returned there after I was done with Kurashiki (in case you were wondering).
I'm not sure if Kurashiki's a must-see, especially if you're not interested in history, museums or art, but if you have time just a nice stroll along the canal area could be nice, too!! And afterwards you can explore all the small souvenir shops and eat yummie food!
If you're actually going for the museums, be aware that most of them are closed on Mondays!!
Next up is: Bitchu Takashashi (with Matsuyama Castle) and Kojima
As this is related to today's travel entry, let me have a short poll because I'm just curious: Chinese Zodiac
Poll Chinese zodiac
That's all for today.
Thanks so much for reading!
P.S.: If anybody ever wondered, it took me over 2.5h
to write this entry!!!!!! (x___X)