We wrapped the open-campus programs we’d planned to attend without further incident, then boarded a local train from Okayama Station toward Kurashiki.
Next destination: the Bikan Historical Quarter, a preserved area of Edo-to-Meiji-era streets. Almost certainly the top tourist spot in Okayama Prefecture.
We got off at Kurashiki Station and walked to Bikan. About fifteen minutes in, the retro-modern view came into sight — white-walled storehouses, “namako-kabe” cross-hatched walls, all lined up.
“Oh, this is the Bikan Quarter.”
“Like we stepped into the distant past.”
The two of them were looking around wide-eyed and snapping pictures on their phones. With it being summer break, there were a noticeable number of out-of-prefecture tourists like us.
“Lots of people in yukata.”
“Yeah, this kind of street, a yukata would pop.”
“There’s a rental shop nearby — want to?”
“Of course we’re wearing them.”
“I want to.”
Their eyes lit up the moment I mentioned it. We went straight to the rental shop.
The staff walked us through the rental process and we picked outfits. In the end, Reona chose red, Riona blue. I chose dark blue.
I hadn’t planned to wear one myself, but they asked and I couldn’t say no. Pro dressers were on hand, so getting the fit right was painless.
“Yeah, even in yukata you guys still look spectacular.”
“Thanks. You look good too, Ryouya-kun.”
“Yukata Ryouya is new.”
Personally I felt awkward in something I wasn’t used to wearing, but if it made them happy, fine.
“Right, let’s go explore.”
“All aboard.”
“Nee-chan, volume.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
We walked into the Bikan area. We snapped photos at various spots, picked up street food, and drifted along the Kurashiki River.
”…Ryouya-kun, can you actually eat this?”
“Too blue, looks gross…”
“Yeah, fair reaction on first sight, but it’s good. Trust me.”
I’d handed Reona and Riona “denim-man” — blue steamed buns — and gotten skeptical looks, but the taste turned out fine, and they ended up enjoying them.
The same shop also sold denim burgers, denim soft-serve, and so on — all that signature blue color. The reason everything’s denim-themed: Kurashiki is the birthplace of domestic Japanese jeans.
After that we hit a museum displaying world-famous paintings, killed time at a shiba-inu café, and were now resting on the second floor of a tourist info center.
“First time here, but there’s a lot to see. Fun.”
“I can see why it’s so popular as a tourist spot.”
“Right? I’ve been a bunch of times growing up and I still don’t get bored.”
“I get it, Ryouya-kun.”
“Mm. I want to come back.”
Both Reona and Riona looked very satisfied — bringing them here was a complete win. I was having a blast myself.
“Oh, there’s a place around here where you can hold a wedding, right? I want to see that.”
“Sure, let’s go next.”
What Reona was talking about was a hotel-and-attraction complex built around an old red-brick ivy-covered hotel building — a popular Bikan destination.
“Ryouya-kun, thanks.”
“Excited to see it.”
We finished resting and walked toward the destination. It was less than ten minutes’ walk from the tourist info center.
“This is on a site that used to be a Meiji-era factory.”
“Now that you mention it, you can see the bones of it.”
“The red-and-green contrast is gorgeous.”
“Yeah, can’t skip this one when you come to Bikan.”
We passed through the red-brick arch at the main entrance and walked through a long passage out to the inner courtyard.
“That wedding venue Reona mentioned — they do it in this courtyard plaza or in the chapel space further in, I think.”
“If we did it in this plaza it’d be an open-air garden wedding.”
“The chapel space, also curious about.”
“Want to swing by? When there’s no wedding it’s open to the public.”
We moved to the chapel space. Looking around inside, Riona spoke.
“Quiet atmosphere — good. Red carpet and a white wedding dress would land here.”
“The other spot was nice but this is also amazing.”
Reona and Riona were getting genuinely excited imagining their wedding. I tried to imagine my wedding to match, but nothing came up.
What did come up was a future-me, tied to a chair, being forced at sword-point by Reona and Riona to ink and seal a marriage registration. Definitely something I had to be tired to imagine. Definitely not going to happen.