Kurashiki is my hometown

When people ask me where I am from..I am always prepared to explain where it is. Because people in the U.S. often assume that I am from Tokyo.

“I was born in the suburb of Tokyo but I am from Okayama prefecture.”

“Okinawa? I have heard of that before..”

“No No..Okayama next to Hiroshima..”

Then “agh!” then usually it stops right then.

I grew up in beautiful Kurashiki city located in Okayama Prefecture. The prefectural capital of Okayama Prefecture is Okayama City. “Kurashiki” is roughly translated as “city of storehouses.” The rice was kept in the storehouses.

In short, I grew up in a countryside. I rode my bicycle everywhere as a child and miss riding along the rice fields. It’s kind of boring but so beautiful.

Kurashiki is famous for this district that has museums, small stores, restaurants and coffee/tea houses. During the Edo period, the town did heavy trade with the capital in rice and other goods.

Fortunately, the city survived the War so these stores houses, mills and shops have been preserved and the Kurashiki Bikan-chiku is visited by many tourists not only from Japan but from all over the world.

The Ohara Museum is the most famous museum in my town and it has a large collection of art works by famous Western artists.

The canal is also beautiful and you can walk along the canal slipping back in time..

My hometown is kind of boring otherwise..and I feel this sense of embarrassment whenever I tell people that I grew up in Okayama Prefecture. It’s famous for peach boy story..and the nasty dialect.

My non-Japanese mother and dad from Kyushu told us not to speak that dialect (ouch) so I spoke Okayama dialect in school so I could blend in with other kids but at home, I spoke the standard Japanese.

Now I don’t even know how to speak the Okayama dialect. 😉