Fact File

• Kurashiki has a population of 428,000. Over 99% of the city's population is Japanese. The non-Japanese residents are mainly from North and South Korea.

• Many of Kurashiki's most impressive traditional houses have been preserved and opened to the public. They include the Ohashi House, built for a samuri family in 1796 and the Nozaki House, the home of the powerful Kurashiki salt merchant Buzaemon Nozaki.

• The Seto-ohashi Bridge, links the main island of Honshu with Shikoku. After 10 years of building, it's completion in 1988, realised the linking of Japan's four main islands by road and rail. At that time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 12.3km. It has two decks, one on top for cars and another below for trains. To travel across it in a car one way costs about NZ$100.

• Each year an Autumn Festival is held in villages in the Bitchu area around Kurashiki. Exciting, colourful performances of drumming, dancing and drama, known as Kagura are held at the festivals. Bitchu Kagura is helping keep the Kagura tradition alive in Kurashiki.

• The Kurashiki Toy Museum has a collection of 40,000 toys and dolls from around the world.

• Kurashiki's Tivoli Gardens are a replica of the Copenhagen gardens and fun park by the same name.

 

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