Blogs from Okayama, Japan, Asia

SC writes: We had a relaxed and comfortable trip up from Kagoshima to Okayama: 3 hours plus on the Shinkansen yesterday, and having checked in we immediately set off on a pre-planned trip out to the Kurashiki Bikan historical quarter, where we were able to stroll through streets boasting traditional architecture from the Edo period. Simply delightful with a waterside setting and lots of very attractive retail opportunities. The weather was again really good, so I‘m going to let the the photos speak for themselves. A really good side trip out via local trains......What had been a very good day ended on a downbeat. We went to an Ozzie Bar, recommended in Lonely Planet, but it was dreadful. A real wasted opportunity! (Cj writes) Another day, another fabulous garden - the second of the three best ... read more

With the help of our friend Kasumi we boarded a local train and headed south of Himeji towards Okayama, then headed north into the mountains. The photos show rural scenes as we climbed the hills to get to the snow. We were entertained by a local television crew who joined our train for a few stops and then departed at a very station, the birthplace of a very famous swordsman in Japanese history who is featured. Chizu is a small town that was a 'post' town or way station in the 1600s. At this time the rulers in Edo - now Tokyo - wanted to keep their dominance peacefully across Japan so they instituted a system that required the best fighters and administrators of each shogun or local lord, plus either the lord or his sons ... read more

March 14, 2014 Okayama Around 2:00 in the morning I awoke from an interesting dream. All my friends and family were on a train together and by changing trains we could explore different branches of branching time, different strands in a web of possibilities. By traveling this way, I could find all my friends from across my life and gather them together. Grandma was there, too, and she was so young. It was bright and sunny and everything was happy. It felt so good being all together again, transcending the distance created between us in time. I awoke to the room shaking, starting slowly at first and then growing more intense. My first thought is that it was the shinkansen passing by. Then I realized we’re nowhere near the track. The last time I was in ... read more

I don't remember when we last went on holidays with the whole family. Must have been at least 20 years ago. Probably more. Either long enough to have forgotten what it was like or perhaps long enough for everyone to have reflected on their previous experiences and addressed issues that previously generated angst. This time the kids sorted out the problem of having no-one interesting to talk to by bringing along a wife or husband respectively. The need for my hand to be in my pocket for the whole time was addressed by having children and their partners with actual earning capacity. Our son and daughter-in-law ensured that we were all kept entertained, concerned, happy and quiet (while there was sleeping about to occur) by the 13-month-old child prodigy who is our only granddaughter. For this ... read more

Wednesday, 22nd May 2013 From Fukuyama, I travelled another 42km on the train to Kurashiki, a beautiful merchant town in Okayama Prefecture that evolved during the Edo Period. Since Kurashiki was spared from the WWII bombings, most parts of the old town including the Bikan Historical Area were well-preserved. Coming out from the north exit of the train station, I was pleasantly surprised by the well-thought out "European Area" centred around a clock tower. Within the town square were two shopping malls including a branch of the Mitsui Outlet Mall which I was soon going to visit in Kobe City. My shopping trip was cut short as I was targeting to reach the Bikan Area before sunset today. This was reachable via the south exit of the train station after about 20 minutes on foot. As ... read more