11 Days in Chūgoku & Kyushu – Day 07 – Kurashiki – Shinkei-en

Kurashiki is located in Okayama prefecture, and a short 11 minute train ride away from Okayama Station. The center price of Kurashiki is the canal area that dates back to the Edo Period of the 16th century when Okayama served then as an important rice distribution center. The canal area – Bikan Historical Quarter – is about a kilometer walk from the station, and nearing the start of the district is a lovely Japanese landscape garden called the Shinkei-en. Most visitors apparently do not visit this garden and I was the only person about. The garden is extremely compact; it’ll take you under a minute to walk through it, but is an absolutely lovely spot to soak in the serenity. Admission is free. Oddly, the photos taken on the Oppo Reno turned out even nicer than on the Sony A73 for this visit!