“Kurashiki Architourism 2024” is being held in the Bikan Historical Area, a town steeped in history and culture.
Held every year from autumn through winter, “Kurashiki Architourism” spotlights the buildings that shape Kurashiki’s streetscape, offering an opportunity to rediscover charms that are easy to overlook in everyday life.
The 2024 theme is “Buildings by nameless architects along two main streets.” Why not explore the buildings created by “nameless architects” lining the two main streets—Honmachi-dori and along the Kurashiki River—and enjoy a streetscape woven from history and modernity?
The event runs from Tuesday, October 1, 2024, to Friday, January 31, 2025.
The information presented was current when this article was published in November 2024. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Overview of Kurashiki Architourism 2024
“Kurashiki Architourism” spotlights five buildings in the Bikan Historical Area. This event invites you to pick up a paper “Memory File” and collect the “Building Cards” available at each building.
The five buildings featured in “Kurashiki Architourism 2024” are:
- Ohashi House
- Ohara House Katalyzer
- Kurashiki Coffee-kan
- Inoue House
- Kusudo House atelier&salon Hashimaya
There are two “Building Cards” for each building. Collect all ten to rediscover the charms of Kurashiki.
Each Building Card has a front and a back. The front features a photo of the building and a detailed description.
The back features a bird’s-eye view illustration by Naoki Okamoto, a bird’s-eye-view artist from Kurashiki City. The bird’s-eye view illustration (a picture looking down from a high vantage point), centered on each building, helps you understand its structure and surroundings.
How to enjoy Kurashiki Architourism 2024
First, get a “Memory File.” In addition to holding the Building Cards, it’s handy for keeping admission tickets to the various facilities. Each file costs 500 yen (tax included).
Memory Files are available for purchase at the following locations:
- Tourist Information Center (Kurashikikan)
- Kurashiki City Kurashiki Monogatari-kan
- Ohashi House
- Inoue House
- Kusudo House (inside atelier&salon Hashimaya)
- Kurashiki Coffee-kan
- Ohara House Katalyzer (inside the book cafe)
- Kurashiki Ivy Square
Memory Files are limited to 300 copies.
Buildings in the Bikan Historical Area
The defining feature of this year’s (2024) Kurashiki Architourism is its spotlight on “nameless architects.”
The area around the Bikan Historical Area is said to have a harmonious mix of buildings from various periods, and many of their designers are well known.
For example, many buildings are by well-known architects, such as Yakushiji Kazue, who designed the Ohara Museum of Art, and Urabe Shizutaro, who designed the Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel and Kurashiki Community Center.
All of these buildings are essential to Kurashiki’s streetscape, but apparently the designers of most of the old buildings that still stand today are unknown.
Buildings by “nameless architects” are also an indispensable part of Kurashiki’s story.
With a Memory File in hand, I walked around town, collecting Building Cards at the five locations featured in this event.
Kurashiki Walking Map
When you open the Memory File, you’ll find a QR code linking to the website “Kurashiki Walking Map.” Access it to explore while viewing bird’s-eye illustrations by Naoki Okamoto.
The Kurashiki Walking Map shows the main buildings around the Bikan Historical Area. Click or tap a building to read about it.
The bird’s-eye illustrations show the area in 1963 and 2005. Walking around while comparing them may help you appreciate how today’s “Kurashiki town” has changed.
Using the “Walking Map” while walking is very dangerous. Please stop before using it.
The Memory File is packed with content to make your stroll more enjoyable. One example is “Let’s look for the secrets in Kurashiki’s traditional townhouses!” Its fun illustrations and little architectural facts about townhouses make exploring even more enjoyable.
We explored the area
Using the Kurashiki Walking Map, I visited the locations in this order: Ohashi House, Ohara House Katalyzer, Kurashiki Coffee-kan, Inoue House, and finally Kusudo House. Excluding time spent inside the buildings, you can visit them all in 20 minutes.
A tour of five buildings by “nameless architects”
I picked up an “Omoide File” and explored the town. The architectural tidbits and charming illustrations inside, along with the detailed descriptions of the buildings on the “Building Cards” and the bird’s-eye view of Kurashiki on their backs, made my walk even more enjoyable.
The “Omoide File” is deliberately made of paper, giving it a warm feel. You can also file away things like admission tickets and receipts to keep as “memories.”
It might be fun to keep it in your room at home and look back on it later.
We spoke with Jiro Komoto of Urabe Design, the company that planned the project, about how it came about, its purpose, and the ideas behind the event.
Interview about “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism”
How did “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism” get started?
What inspired “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism”?
Komoto (surname only)
It started with creating the Kurashiki Town Walking Map.
In 2019, when we held an event called “The Work of Architect Shizutaro Urabe” at Kurashiki Ivy Square, leading figures in the architecture world, including Terunobu Fujimori, director of the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo, and Tsutomu Shigemura, professor emeritus at Kobe University, told us, “There is no other town like Kurashiki, where culture has accumulated over time, so it deserves to be properly introduced.”
So, together with the Kurashiki City Urban Development Promotion Division, we created the Kurashiki Town Walking Map. Clicking or tapping on a building shown on the map reveals information about it.
The map was created by bird’s-eye-view illustrator Naoki Okamoto.
I thought that exploring Kurashiki, a town where culture has accumulated over time, would be even more enjoyable if people learned about the buildings that form its backbone, how they came to be built, and the people involved.
I also thought it would be even more enjoyable to learn about Kurashiki’s buildings in chronological order. So I spoke with the Kurashiki City Tourism Division about launching a project called “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism,” and they said, “That sounds interesting—let’s give it a try.”
“Kurashiki Architecture Tourism” chooses a theme each year to help people learn more easily about Kurashiki’s buildings and culture.
Themes of “Architecture Tourism”
When did Architecture Tourism begin?
Komoto
Kurashiki Architecture Tourism began in 2022, and this is its third year.
What were the themes of the first two years of “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism”?
Komoto
The 2022 theme was “harmony between old and new,” which architect Shizutaro Urabe, founder of Urabe Design, valued. We introduced five buildings designed by Urabe.
Born in Kurashiki City, Shizutaro Urabe established the Kurashiki Architectural Research Institute (now Urabe Design) in 1962 within Kurashiki Rayon (now Kuraray), with the support of its president at the time, Soichiro Ohara. As an architect, he supported Soichiro Ohara’s vision for “town development in Kurashiki.”
- Kurashiki Archaeological Museum extension
- Ohara Museum of Art Annex
- Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel
- Kurashiki Community Center
- Kurashiki Ivy Square
The following year, in 2023, we introduced five buildings, focusing on works by architect Kazue Yakushiji, who was born in Soja City. The theme was “Architect Kazue Yakushiji and the Changing Town.”
| Building | Designer |
|---|---|
| Ohara Museum of Art Main Building | Kazue Yakushiji |
| Yurin-so Villa | Kazue Yakushiji |
| Cafe El Greco | Kazue Yakushiji |
| Kurashiki Church | Isaku Nishimura |
| Kurashiki City Art Museum | Kenzo Tange |
In both 2022 and 2023, the focus was on architects and introducing their buildings to help people learn about the town of Kurashiki.
What is meant by this year’s (2024) theme, “nameless architects”?
Komoto
The name “nameless architects” was suggested by Naoki Okamoto, who provides the bird’s-eye-view illustrations.
The original plan for “Architecture Tourism” was to introduce buildings over several years, moving back through time: first Shizutaro Urabe, then his senior Kazue Yakushiji, and in 2024, older buildings…
Naoki Okamoto also suggested that we could introduce the town as one built by the craftsmen, carpenters, and master builders who worked on its older buildings. That led to “nameless architects” becoming the theme for 2024.
What are the “two main streets” mentioned in the theme?
Komoto
As stated on the back of the pamphlet, the “two main streets” are Honmachi Street and the Kurashiki River waterfront.
Kurashiki was once part of a body of water called the Kibi no Anaumi, and the sea extended close to what is now the Bikan Historical Area. The town later developed through land reclamation.
Tsurugatayama, also shown on the pamphlet map, was once an island. Honmachi Street developed near the sea.
Meanwhile, the Kurashiki River waterfront developed after land reclamation, thanks to the Kurashiki River, which was used as a canal. We chose the theme “Buildings by nameless architects along two main streets” because we thought that bringing these two areas together would help visitors feel the passage of time.
We believe that visiting the five buildings by “nameless architects” along the two main streets will let people experience the changing eras and culture of Kurashiki.
The thinking behind the “Omoide File”
What is the “Omoide File”?
Komoto
It’s a paper file with plastic pockets inside, designed to hold the “Building Cards” placed in the buildings featured in this project.
Wouldn’t a digital format, using a stamp rally or smartphones, be easier and more accessible for participants?
Komoto
It’s true that many events involve going around collecting stamps, like a stamp rally, but “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism” is a little different.
I believe that travel is about making memories. You can carry the “Omoide File” and step inside buildings you wouldn’t normally enter.
When you come out, you’ve learned a little more, and that version of yourself becomes a “memory.”
You might take photos of the beautiful streetscape on your way to a building, enjoy a delicious coffee at a cafe, or find a lovely craft item in a souvenir shop… A walk around town creates all kinds of “memories.”
That’s why we named it the “Omoide File.”
We also deliberately made the “Omoide File” out of paper, rather than using a digital format on a smartphone, to give it a warm feel.
You can enjoy sensations that digital formats can’t offer, such as the feel of turning paper pages and placing each “Building Card” into its own plastic pocket. I thought that would feel more “Kurashiki-like.”
By the way, these are handmade.
For example, the multi-tack fastener in the image above (the round part secured with a string) is made by punching a hole and pressing each one with a one-yen coin. Your fingers start to hurt if you keep doing it.
But if we removed this handmade, craft-like quality, it would lose something of what makes it Kurashiki-like, so we deliberately put care into it.
There are 12 pockets inside, so even after putting in the building cards from all five locations, you’ll still have two pockets left. You can decide for yourself what to put in those two pockets, and in the end, those things will become “memories” too.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Komoto
Kurashiki is known as an old town of white walls and black roof tiles, but it is a town that continues to evolve while thoughtfully incorporating new things.
As you walk around town visiting the storehouses and townhouses said to be old, you may discover contemporary art and modern architecture, broadening the scope of your trip. I think it will also make for a journey where you can more deeply experience Kurashiki’s appeal, where history and the present are in harmony.
Be sure to experience “Kurashiki’s Story” with the “Memory File” from “Kurashiki Architecture Tourism 2024” in hand.
From the Writer
One reason the Bikan Historical Area is said to be beautiful is its exquisite balance of buildings from different eras, ranging from “old buildings (such as Edo-period townhouses)” to “modern buildings (such as Western-style houses from the Taisho period).”
The streetscape preserves its historic appearance while blending with modern life, allowing you to experience Kurashiki’s history and culture.
I also visited each of the buildings myself. I discovered something new in every one: glimpsing the lives of merchant families in the Edo period, marveling at Meiji-period building techniques, and seeing the development from the Taisho period through the early Showa period. Walking through the town, I could experience the passage of time.
Explore the five featured buildings and experience “Kurashiki’s story (the story of Kurashiki, which flourished as a merchant town)” with Kurashiki Architecture Tourism 2024.
Why not discover your own “Kurashiki story” with an “Omoide File” in hand?
Kurashiki Architecture Tourism 2024 Information
| Name | Kurashiki Architecture Tourism 2024 |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 1, 2024 (Tuesday) – January 31, 2025 (Friday) |
| Locations | Ohashi House, Ohara House Katalyzer, Kurashiki Coffee-kan, Inoue House, Kusudo House, Atelier & Salon Hashimaya |
| Participation fee (tax included) | Free (Omoide File: 500 yen, tax included) * “Building Cards” are distributed free of charge at each facility, but some facilities require an admission fee to look around inside. For details, please check each facility’s website. |
| Website | Kurashiki Architecture Tourism 2024 |
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