We visit Kurashiki Bikan historical area and walk along the stream with willows beside it. You see old houses and rice warehouses. Now they are used as a museum or shops. After that we visit Korakuen Park. It was one of three most famous parks in Japan. It was created for Tsunamasa Ikeda , the lord of Okayama Han in Edo Period. We also visit Okayama Castle.
At Okayama Station or your hotel in the case your hotel is near the station
Walking in Korakuen Park and seeing streams, ponds, hills, flowers, and trees
Visiting Okayama Castle
Walking along the stream with willow trees beside it in Kurashiki Bikan historical area
Watching a and shopping Japanese folkcraft
Ivy Square , a hotel and restaurant which was the spinning factory in Meiji Period
At Okayama Station
Kurashiki has many faces. One of them is Kurashiki Bikan historical area. In Edo Period Kurashiki was directly governed by Tokugawa Shogunate and it was prosperous as a town of a merchant. We can see the houses and warehouses in those days along the stream called Kurashiki River. We can watch and buy Japanese folkcraft in the shops and museums. You can eat lunch in Ivy Square, which was a spinning factory in Meiji Period.
Korakuen Park is one of three most beautiful gardens in Japan. It was made for the Japanese feudal lord in Edo Period. It is a very large garden. You walk in the garden and enjoy beautiful scenery of the ponds, streams, hills, some houses . You can visit Okayama Castle which was reconstructed.
guide fee,
hotel pick-up near Okayama Station
transportation fee(you and guide) the train fare between Okayama and Kurashiki round trip 640 yen per person
entrance fee (you and guide) about 2000 yen per person
lunch
I can guide you according to your request.
If you stay in the hotel in Kurashiki Bikan historical area, I can pick you up in Kurashiki.
Yoko was tremendously helpful both long before our custom tour and even after! She patiently answered so many questions I had as a first time visitor to Soja City/Kurashiki, Okayama in the weeks before our tour. She set up a taxi driver and helped me navigate Japanese gravesite customs. Someone in the taxi compoany even happened to know my family and where my family's grave was located! Her English is excellent and she is a caring and capable guide that w connected with so easily. Our visit to my family's grave in Soja City was magical for me, my wife, and our daughter and granddaughter. Our granddaughter asked me if she could meet a relative her age. Yoko and the ancestors made that happen. (See picture with two happy 10 year olds, one from the US, one from Soja CIty, Japan). We bid our newly found relatives goodbye and returned to Kurashiki. After a refreshing lunch, we had a wonderful (and cooling!) visit to the Ohara Art Museum and Ohara houses. After our tour, Yoko was once again such a star! My cousin wanted to visit our family grave a couple days after us. Yoko helped arrange a taxi for them and my cousin got to spend additional time with our Soja City relatives! Yoko is such a caring, generous, knowledgable and helpful guide! Words cannot express our deep gratitude to her. Our request was complex and she delivered! We cannot recommend her to you enough!
Thank you for a nice review. I also had a nice time with you and your family. I appreciate you.
We saw a lot on this tour. Important to have an umbrella on hand if touring in June as it rained a bit. Yoko packed a lot into this day which was good. Because it rained the river boats were not operating. We instead walked along the beautiful river bank. Yoko understood and spoke good English.
Thank you for your nice review. I am very happy to read it. Is your leg all right? We walked long. So I am worried about that. I wish you can get Nintendo tickets. Yoko
This is an interesting island to visit. Yoko helped us navigate transportation. It does take a fair bit of time to get to the island including a train from Okayama (which can require a transfer), a ferry and local buses on the island. We enjoyed seeing the red and yellow pumpkins. Yoko knows the island well and was able to highlight key sites and told us about the artworks.
Thank you for your nice review. June is a rainy season in Japan. This year we had a lot of rain. You had a lot of luck. Though the weather forecast said it would rain a lot on both days , we had a little rain and could enjoy the sightseeing in almost all the places without an umbrella. Yoko
We had a wonderful time exploring Naoshima and Teshima with Yoko. Highly recommended!
Thank you so much for good evaluation.