On my recent Japan road trip, I had a chance to visit Kurashiki, a historic city in western Okayama Prefecture that breathes a laid-back atmosphere.
You can easily reach there by taking Shinkansen (a bullet train) — 3 hours from Tokyo, 45 minutes from Osaka. But I came from the other side of country where I enjoyed the beautiful panorama along the 150-kilometer bus ride from Hiroshima.
With a population of only around 500 thousand, the city features the blend of new and old buildings. The way they are structured truly makes Kurashiki a one-of-a-kind.