Kurashiki City

Tapping spectators' heads with fans.

Suinkyo, Achi Shrine festival

Photo by Tatushin (Public domain)

01 ／ Kinkan-en Flower Mats (錦莞莚)

Warp threads tripled in a flower mat,woven with fine patterns.

Kinkan-en (錦莞莚) is a patterned flower mat (hana-mushiro) that Isozaki Minki (磯崎眠亀) of Chayamachi invented in 1878. At its Meiji-era peak it grew into a major export of Japan, but the last one was woven around 1928, it is said. Minki's house and workshop, with a ramp instead of stairs, is now a memorial hall.

Designated a historical material by the city (26 items, 2004)
120 warp threads to one shaku of width
Last kinkan-en woven around Showa 3, it is said
Memorial hall is a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property

02 ／ Kumano Shrine and Goryū Sonryūin

Six main halls stand at Kumano Shrine.A nearby temple's pagoda is said to be a retired emperor's memorial.

According to the shrine's tradition, Kumano Shrine (熊野神社) was invited from Kumano in Kii in 701, and the second of its six main halls was rebuilt in 1492. The stone pagoda (hōtō) of Goryū Sonryūin (五流尊瀧院) is said to have been built in 1240 for the first-anniversary memorial of Retired Emperor Go-Toba.

Second hall: Important Cultural Property
The other five halls: Prefectural Important Cultural Properties
Pagoda: Important Cultural Property (about 3.8 m tall)
Said to have been built in 1240

03 ／ Ōyama Yasuharu

A women's title match bears the nameof a master who took Meijin 18 times.

Ōyama Yasuharu, the 15th Honorary Meijin, was a shogi player from Kurashiki who left records of 18 Meijin titles and 80 titles in all (as presented in September 2023). The Ōyama Meijin Cup Kurashiki Tōka Tournament, founded in 1993, is a women's title match of the Japan Shogi Association. The memorial hall shows the board and pieces he used.

18 Meijin titles
80 titles (as of September 2023)
Kurashiki Tōka Tournament founded in 1993
Ōyama Meijin Memorial Hall: free admission

Living here

A white-walled riverside, jeans in Kojima,Washūzan's islands: all in this one city.

about 470,000 people
90 min to a city centre
Shinkansen stops here

Kurashiki faces the Seto Inland Sea and covers 356.07 km². The Kurashiki riverside is a nationally selected Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings (selected 1979), Kojima is said to be the birthplace of Japanese jeans, and Washūzan is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty with views of the Bisan Strait islands.

People living here: 474,592people
Area: 356.07km²
Households: 199,082households
Rent (average for rentals): 49,071yen
Healthcare: 36 hospitals ／ 345 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-08-01 に編入合併（船穂町・真備町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —92 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kurashiki City in Japan34.585°N 133.772°E

to OsakaSanyo Shinkansen65min

Travel times follow ①JR西日本「JRおでかけネット」区間時刻表『東海道･山陽･九州新幹線下り』（https://timetable.jr-odekake.net/line-timetable/1796 ・2026年9月29日〈火〉のダイヤ。本体が保存した表 $SP/jr-shinkansen-down-20260929.json と上り $SP/jr-shinkansen-up-20260929.json の『新倉敷』の欄を数え直し、列車ページで着発を確かめた）。列車ページ：ひかり681号 https://timetable.jr-odekake.net/train-timetable/314271?date=20260929 ・こだま939号 …/314981 ・こだま941号 …/314991 ・こだま961号 …/315031（いずれも『毎日運転』）。②下津井電鉄『倉敷・岡山・津山～東京（新宿）線路線紹介』（https://www.shimoden.net/route/tokyo.html 。時刻表は2025年8月29日『新宿到着時刻の改正』のあと） (checked 2026-09-30). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Kurashiki City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

28.0km

総社市, 岡山市, 浅口市, 玉野市, 早島町, 矢掛町

Kurashiki City isthis kind of town.

01Suinkyo (素隠居) are people in "old man" and "old woman" masks who appear at the annual festival of Achi Shrine (阿智神社). With masks like a rakkyō (ラッキョウ) and red fans, they stroll around the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter. Being tapped is said to bring good fortune.
02In Chayamachi, the Isozaki Minki Memorial Hall holds the "phantom" flower mat kinkan-en; in Hayashi, Kumano Shrine and Goryū Sonryūin have a nationally designated main hall and pagoda; and the Ōyama Meijin Memorial Hall shows the belongings of Ōyama Yasuharu.
03The Kurashiki riverside is a townscape of white walls and willows, a nationally selected preservation district. Kojima has a jeans-making area, and Washūzan is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty overlooking the Seto Inland Sea islands.

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kurashiki City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗