Kurashiki, Okayama

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**Kurashiki**
**倉敷市**
Kurashiki's location in Okayama, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Chūgoku
Prefecture	Okayama
Physical characteristics
Area	354.71 km² (136.95 sq mi)
Population (as of Feb. 2008)
Total	478,176
Location	34°35′N, 133°46′E
Symbols
Tree	Camphor
Flower	Wysteria
Bird	Kingfisher
Flag
Kurashiki Government Office
Mayor	Ms. Kaori Ito
Address	〒710-8565 640 Nishinakashinden, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama-ken JAPAN
Phone number	086-426-3030 (inside Japan); +81-86-426-3030 (international)
Official website: City of Kurashiki

Kurashiki (倉敷市, Kurashiki-shi^?) is a historic city located to the west of Okayama, Japan, sitting on the Takahashi River, on the coast of the Inland Sea.

As of February 2008, the city has a population of 478,176. The total area is 354.71 square kilometers (136.95 sq mi).

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Colleges and Universities
4 Sister/Friendship Cities
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The modern city of Kurashiki was founded on April 1, 1928. Previously, it was the site of clashes between the Heike and Genji clans during the Heian period. It gradually developed as a riverport; during the Edo period, it became an area directly controlled by the Shogunate. Distinctive white-walled, black-tiled warehouses were built to store goods. During the Meiji Restoration (Japan's Industrial Revolution period), factories were built, including the Ohara Spinning Mill which still stands as the nostalgic tourist attraction Ivy Square.^[1]

In August 2006, the neighboring towns Mabi and Funao merged with Kurashiki.

[edit] Attractions

The main canal in the Bikan district of Kurashiki.

Kurashiki is the home to Japan's first Western art museum, the Ohara Museum of Art. Established in 1930 by Magosaburu Ohara, it contains masterpieces by El Greco, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, and Renoir. The collection also has fine examples of Asian and contemporary art. The museum itself is housed in a neo-Classical building.

19th-century warehouses line this quay in the Bikan district of Kurashiki. Nowadays, many of them host merchants of artisanal local wares.

The ancient merchant quarter, called the Bikan historical area. This area of the city is surrounded by almost unique examples of 17th century wooden warehouses called kura (倉) painted white with traditional black tiles, along a canal framed with weeping willows and filled with koi. The area has no electric poles in order to make the area more closely resemble the look of the Meiji period. The nearby AEON Shopping Center is a popular destination for the locals. One of the city's former town halls was located in the Kurashiki Kan, a European style building constructed in 1917.

The Tivoli theme park was built in 1998, based on the theme park of the same name in Copenhagen, and is not popular with local Japanese or tourists as having lost money every year it has been in operation would indicate.^{[citation needed]}

The Great Seto Bridge connects the city to Sakaide in Kagawa Prefecture across the Inland Sea.