Kurashiki

From the 17th through the 19th centuries, this vital shipping port supplied Osaka with cotton, textiles, sugar, reeds, and rice. Those days are long past, and today Kurashiki thrives on income from tourism. If your view were limited to what you see just outside the station, you'd be forgiven for thinking Kurashiki is just another over-industrialized modern Japanese city. We strongly recommend, however, venturing 10 minutes on foot southeast of the station to Bikan Chiku, a neighborhood of canals, bridges, shops, restaurants, ryokans, and museums.

You can see most of Kurashiki's sights in a day, but it's worth staying longer, perhaps in a splendid old ryokan, to fully appreciate the time-machine aspect of the place. The white-stucco walls of old warehouses are accented smartly with charred pine-plank paneling and leaden-gray, burnt-brown, and carbon-black tiles crisscrossed with raised diagonals or squares of stark white mortar. These structures follow the willow-shaded canals and cobblestone streets linked by graceful stone bridges. The Bikan district is artfully lit up at night, and a stroll down the willow-draped canals after a sumptuous meal can be an unforgettably romantic journey.

Note that virtually the entire town shuts down on Monday.