Via changes at Takeo-Onsen, Kokura and Okayama I made it from Nagasaki to Kurashiki in about four hours. My hotel is right next to the Bikan Historical Quarter, a beautifully preserved Edo-period merchant district, centred on a willow-lined canal flanked by white-walled, black-tiled kura (storehouse) buildings that once served as rice and goods warehouses when the town thrived as a major distribution hub under direct Shogunate control. Today the old storehouses house museums, galleries, cafés and craft shops while retaining their historic character. Its centrepiece is the Ohara Museum (see tomorrow's blog) — alongside smaller museums covering archaeology, folk crafts and local painting. It's touristy, but with genuine cultural depth beneath the surface. Mum has made a special request to see more shops, so this is for you Mum.