Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter

倉敷美観地区Okayama

Historic area

What makes this place special?

At a Glance

The Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter is a preserved townscape along the Kurashiki River in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. Storehouses and houses with white plaster and namako-kabe walls line the canal, recalling the town's years as a shogunal territory that began in 1642.

The Ohara Museum of Art, which opened in 1930 as Japan's first museum of Western art, holds works including El Greco's Annunciation. Kurashiki Ivy Square, a former spinning mill dating to 1888, now serves as a visitor complex. Willows shade the canal, where boats drift past, and Achi Shrine stands on Tsurugata Hill above the quarter. The canal-side core was designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 1979.