The canal
Willows on both banks.
Anagoria — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0 · takeokahp — CC BY 3.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Bikan Historical Quarter is the old merchant district of Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, about 16 km west of Okayama Station and 158 km west of Osaka in a straight line, and a short walk from Kurashiki Station. In the Edo period the town was ruled directly by the shogunate and grew rich as a shipping point for rice and other goods; its name means «village of storehouses». The canal carried goods to the warehouses lining its banks. In 1930 the Ohara Museum of Art opened here as the first museum of Western art in Japan, and in 1979 the district was listed as a preservation district for traditional buildings. Ivy Square, a former cotton mill covered in ivy, is now a hotel and shopping complex. Weeping willows lean over the stone-banked canal, and storehouses with white walls set with black tiles in a lattice pattern line the water. Small stone bridges cross the canal, and flat-bottomed traditional boats glide slowly past. Visitors stroll along the canal, take a short boat ride and browse craft shops and cafés in the old buildings. The Ohara Museum stands on the canal; the quarter is lit up in the evening and quiet early in the morning.
Willows on both banks.
Lattice-tiled walls.
A former cotton mill.
Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan
Yes, short rides run on the canal.
A short walk from Kurashiki Station.