The Finest Kurashiki Fair ～ A Market Event Where Adults and Children Can Enjoy Kurashiki’s Flavors and Culture

“Take us somewhere!”

As Sunday rolls around, the kids’ familiar requests begin.

When we go out, of course we want the kids to have fun, but the adults want to enjoy themselves too.

The “Kurashiki Finest Products Fair” is an event bringing together local specialties and gourmet food from Kurashiki City and the surrounding area.

The kids’ favorite yuru-chara mascots show up, while the adults can enjoy gourmet food and drinks.

Fairs like this are fun because you can sample so many things all at once without having to travel far.

I went to the event held on October 6, 2019, and here’s my report!

About the Kurashiki Finest Products Fair

The Kurashiki Finest Products Fair is an event where you can enjoy a selection of local specialties, gourmet food, and prized products from long-established businesses, offered by cities and towns in the Takahashi River Basin, including Kurashiki City.

The 2019 event also welcomed participation from municipalities that had supported recovery efforts following the July 2018 heavy rains.

▼ The participating municipalities from outside Okayama Prefecture were as follows.

• Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture
• Matsushima Town, Miyagi Prefecture
• Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture
• Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture
• Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture

It’s great to be able to experience specialties and gourmet food from beyond Kurashiki City and the Takahashi River Basin, too.

The event is held at Kurashiki Mirai Park, between “Ario Kurashiki” and “MITSUI OUTLET PARK Kurashiki,” north of JR Kurashiki Station.

So admission to the event itself is free. The official information says “no parking,” but we were able to use the parking lots at “Ario Kurashiki” and “MITSUI OUTLET PARK Kurashiki.”

It’s also nice that you can do your regular shopping while you’re there for the event.

What the Kurashiki Finest Products Fair was like

Kurashiki Mirai Park, where the Kurashiki Finest Products Fair is held, is just the right size to walk around with children.

Even so, there were lots of activities.

Here are some of the things I experienced.

Attractions Stage

Various performances took place on the park stage at Kurashiki Mirai Park.

▼ The stage schedule was as follows.

There was something for both kids and adults to enjoy.

▼ The Makibi Boys and Girls Choir gave a beautiful performance.
It’s wonderful to see children singing confidently in front of a large audience.

▼ The Mabi Bamboo Orchestra made a strong impression with its bamboo instruments.

These two groups perform at a variety of events and can also be seen at the “Mabi-Funao Soodori Dance Festival” and “Kurashiki Shunsho Akari.”

▼ The children were thrilled when the local mascots (yuru-chara) appeared!

The mascots who appeared were as follows.

Kurashiki City Japan Heritage Stamp Rally

Kurashiki City has three stories recognized as Japan Heritage: “A Cotton Flower,” “Ports of Call for Kitamaebune Ships,” and “The Legacy of Ancient Kibi.”

A stamp rally inspired by these Japan Heritage stories was held at Ario Kurashiki and MITSUI OUTLET PARK Kurashiki, both adjacent to the venue (Kurashiki Mirai Park), as well as at the park itself.

Stamp rally sheets were originally scheduled to be handed out from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but perhaps because it was so popular, or perhaps because they hadn’t prepared enough, distribution had ended by around 10:30 a.m.…

Luckily, my family and I managed to get a sheet and take part in the stamp rally.

Once you’ve collected stamps at all three locations and shown your sheet at the reception desk, you can spin the lottery wheel.

▼ The lottery prizes were as follows.

I won the grand prize!!
That’s what I’d like to say, but I actually got the participation prize.
What a shame…

Bustling booths on a scale of 70 in total

Booths selling gourmet food and local specialties were packed closely together.

▼ They were broadly divided into the following areas.

• Special area
• Food and drink area
• Takahashi River Basin area
• Kurashiki area
• Kojima area
• Supporting municipalities area
• Workshops
• Mabi area
• Shotsukubo area
• Tamashima area

I thought it was a wonderful way to experience “Kurashiki” all at once.

▼ In the hands-on area, children tried their hand at coloring at the Ohara Museum of Art booth.
Mr. Okazaki, a staff member, kindly showed them what to do.

▼ Here’s the coloring page!
It depicts “Belgian Girl in Kimono” (by Kojima Torajiro), which you can see in person at the Ohara Museum of Art.

If you finish the coloring page and take it to the Ohara Museum of Art, you can get a ticket to enter for 500 yen as an adult.
It’s a perfect gift from a child to an adult, and I thought it was a lovely gesture.

Apparently, elementary and junior high school students who live in Kurashiki City can enter for free.

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▼ At the “Mabi Bamboo Craft Club” booth, visitors could try making bamboo toys.
Watching my son work so hard on making a bamboo dragonfly made me think, as a father, “There’s just something so nice about this…!”

▼In the food area, we visited Wohl Wollen in Mabi and bought an apple pie.

We couldn't take our time eating at the venue, so we enjoyed it as an afternoon snack after getting home.

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If you're wondering, “What other places took part?”, open the list below and take a look.

Get one raffle ticket for every 500 yen spent at the venue and enter the raffle!

A raffle is also held at the venue.

▼You received a raffle ticket when you spent 500 yen or more.

▼Putting the ticket stub into the raffle box is a fun event for children.

▼The winning numbers were also read out on stage, but we were elsewhere at the venue, so we couldn't hear them in person.
So our family checked the numbers posted on the board.
Unfortunately, we didn't win…

From the Writer

At the urging of the kids, we finally got ourselves moving and visited the “The Finest Kurashiki Products Fair.”

The familiar place looked different from usual, and not only the children but the adults were excited too.

I also liked that we could see a variety of food and booths all at once.

The stage program and some of the vendor booths also gave us a sense of Mabi, and I felt we received the message, “Recovery from the July 2018 torrential rains will still take time, but we're doing well!”

If “The Finest Kurashiki Products Fair” is held again next year, I hope you'll use this report as a reference and enjoy it.

The Finest Kurashiki Products Fair Information

Name	The Finest Kurashiki Products Fair
Date	October 5, 2019
Location	12-1 Kotobukicho, Kurashiki City

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