In the morning I walked to the Ohara Museum of Art in the Bikan Historical Quarter near my hotel. Ohara Magosaburo (1880-1943) was a businessman, philanthropist and patron of the arts. He sponsored Kojima Torajiro (1881-1929) who travelled to Europe and built up a collection of Western works of art. After the war, Ohara's son, Soichiro (1909-1968), further extended the collection. There are works by Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, Picasso and so on, but the most striking piece for me was a painting by Léon Frédéric, a Belgian artist I'd never heard of. It is over 10m wide and divided into several panels depicting scenes from heaven and hell. Cameras weren't allowed in the museum so the photo below is taken from a postcard and shows only the centre panel.

In the afternoon I took the train to the nearby city of Okayama to see what is reputed to be one of the top three gardens in Japan, Kōrakuen. It was completed in 1700 and has largely retained its original appearance though had to be restored in 1934 (typhoon) and 1945 (air raid). It originally belonged to the lord of the nearby Okayama Castle.

The latest konbini discovery is this delicious pudding; it's like crème brûlée except made out of ice cream.

My hotel here in Kurashiki, the Dormy Inn, is part of a Japan wide chain (I'll be staying in another one in Morioka), which boasts rooftop onsens and little perks like free ice creams after your spa session and free yonakisoba (a ramen-style snack) in the evenings.