Today, I went to the Kurashiki historical quarter located in Okayama prefecture. This area can be walked around entirely in about a half-day. There is a preserved canal area, which dates back to the Edo period (1603-1867). I was really lucky because the rain stopped right when I was exploring the area.
今日は、岡山県にある倉敷美観地区へ行ったんだ。このエリアは、半日あればゆっくり散策できる。江戸時代(1603-1867)の運河が残されているんだ。ちょうど雨がやんだので、本当にラッキーだった。
There are many shops and restaurants, and it is fun to look around and check everything out.
ショップやレストランもたくさんあって、いろいろ見て回るのも楽しい。
Okayama Prefecture is famous for its delicious fruit, and is known as the “Kingdom of Fruit”. I had some shine muscat grapes at the Kurashiki Ivy Square, and they were very sweet.
岡山県はフルーツ王国と呼ばれるほど、フルーツが美味しいことで有名だ。倉敷アイビースクエアでシャインマスカットを食べたけど、とてもあまかったよ。
There’s also a famous museum called the Ohara Museum, which is the oldest western art museum in Japan. If I had a bit more time, I would have wanted to look inside.
日本最古の西洋美術館として有名な大原美術館もある。もう少し時間があれば、中を見てみたかったな。
Kurashiki is very convenient to get to by bullet train (shinkansen). It’s close to the JR Kurashiki station, and it’s about 20 minutes from the Okayama bullet train station.
倉敷は新幹線へのアクセスがとても便利だ。JR倉敷駅からも近いし、新幹線の岡山駅まで20分ほどで行ける。
Kurashiki always feels like time is flowing slowly there. There are buildings from both the Edo period and the Meiji period, and perhaps during the time of cultural enlightenment, this was what Japan was like.
いつもゆっくり時が流れているような倉敷。江戸時代の建物と明治時代の建物があるようで、文明開化の時の街並みって、こんな感じだったのかなあ。
This was the end of my trip. I like Japanese food, so I had a lunch box on the bullet train on the way home. For my next trip, I’d like to go to northern Japan.
今回の僕の旅はこれで終了。日本食が好きなので、夕食は帰りの新幹線でお弁当を食べることにした。次回は北の方へ行きたいなあ。