:Kurashiki

Kurashiki is located in the south-central part of Okayama Prefecture, and the Takahashi River flows through the midwestern part of the city from north to south and empties into the Seto Inland Sea. Most of the plains are occupied by reclaimed land and alluvial plains, and are relatively flat except for the Kojima area. Kojima, Kameshimayama, Tamashima, and Tsurajima are many places in the city that have the kanji 'island' in their names; these areas were originally islands and were connected by land reclamation to form the current city limits. Okayama City, which is the prefectural capital, is adjacent to the east, and Kurashiki forms part of the Greater Okayama metropolitan area.

Okayama Prefecture

• Asakuchi
• Hayashima
• Kita-ku, Okayama
• Minami-ku, Okayama
• Sōja
• Tamano
• Yakage

Kurashiki has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Kurashiki is {{convert|15.8|C}}. The average annual rainfall is {{cvt|1042.2|mm}} with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around {{convert|27.9|C}}, and lowest in January, at around {{convert|4.6|C}}. The highest temperature ever recorded in Kurashiki was {{cvt|37.1|C}} on 8 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was {{cvt|-8.0|C}} on 27 February 1981.

{{Weather box

|width=auto

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|location = Kurashiki (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1979−present)

|Jan record high C = 16.1

|Feb record high C = 22.5

|Mar record high C = 24.7

|Apr record high C = 30.5

|May record high C = 32.6

|Jun record high C = 35.2

|Jul record high C = 36.8

|Aug record high C = 37.1

|Sep record high C = 36.2

|Oct record high C = 32.4

|Nov record high C = 26.1

|Dec record high C = 20.6

|Jan record low C = -5.4

|Feb record low C = -8.0

|Mar record low C = -3.5

|Apr record low C = -0.8

|May record low C = 3.1

|Jun record low C = 9.8

|Jul record low C = 16.0

|Aug record low C = 17.1

|Sep record low C = 8.9

|Oct record low C = 2.7

|Nov record low C = -0.9

|Dec record low C = -4.1

|Jan high C = 9.2

|Feb high C = 10.0

|Mar high C = 13.6

|Apr high C = 19.3

|May high C = 24.4

|Jun high C = 27.3

|Jul high C = 30.9

|Aug high C = 32.2

|Sep high C = 28.4

|Oct high C = 23.1

|Nov high C = 17.1

|Dec high C = 11.5

|Jan mean C = 4.6

|Feb mean C = 5.2

|Mar mean C = 8.5

|Apr mean C = 13.9

|May mean C = 19.1

|Jun mean C = 22.9

|Jul mean C = 26.9

|Aug mean C = 27.9

|Sep mean C = 23.9

|Oct mean C = 18.0

|Nov mean C = 12.0

|Dec mean C = 6.7

|Jan low C = 0.3

|Feb low C = 0.6

|Mar low C = 3.5

|Apr low C = 8.6

|May low C = 14.0

|Jun low C = 19.1

|Jul low C = 23.6

|Aug low C = 24.4

|Sep low C = 20.1

|Oct low C = 13.5

|Nov low C = 7.3

|Dec low C = 2.4

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 34.4

|Feb precipitation mm = 42.4

|Mar precipitation mm = 78.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 82.5

|May precipitation mm = 101.9

|Jun precipitation mm = 149.8

|Jul precipitation mm = 154.1

|Aug precipitation mm = 81.3

|Sep precipitation mm = 133.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 93.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 51.2

|Dec precipitation mm = 40.4

|year precipitation mm = 1042.2

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 4.8

|Feb precipitation days = 6.1

|Mar precipitation days = 8.6

|Apr precipitation days = 9.0

|May precipitation days = 8.8

|Jun precipitation days = 10.6

|Jul precipitation days = 9.9

|Aug precipitation days = 6.8

|Sep precipitation days = 8.8

|Oct precipitation days = 7.1

|Nov precipitation days = 5.8

|Dec precipitation days = 5.2

|Jan sun = 152.5

|Feb sun = 144.5

|Mar sun = 175.7

|Apr sun = 189.8

|May sun = 199.2

|Jun sun = 143.1

|Jul sun = 173.0

|Aug sun = 206.5

|Sep sun = 155.2

|Oct sun = 166.7

|Nov sun = 149.7

|Dec sun = 145.8

|year sun = 2001.3

|source 1 = Japan Meteorological Agency{{cite web

| url = https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/rank_a.php?prec_no=66&block_no=0669&year=&month=&day=&view=h0

|script-title=ja:観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）

| publisher = JMA

| access-date = May 2, 2022}}{{cite web

| url = https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_amd_ym.php?prec_no=66&block_no=0669&year=&month=&day=&view=h0

|script-title=ja:気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）

| publisher = JMA

| access-date = May 2, 2022}}}}

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kurashiki in 2020 is 474,592 people. Kurashiki has been conducting censuses since 1960.

{{Historical populations

| 1960 | 286902

| 1965 | 308908

| 1970 | 374385

| 1975 | 417750

| 1980 | 432171

| 1985 | 443721

| 1990 | 445059

| 1995 | 453618

| 2000 | 460869

| 2005 | 469377

| 2010 | 475421

| 2015 | 477118

| 2020 | 474592

|align = none

| footnote = Kurashiki population statistics[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/japan/okayama/ Kurashiki population statistics]

}}

The Kurashiki area is part of ancient Bitchū Province and near the center of the ancient Kingdom of Kibi. Records of human settlements date back to the Japanese Paleolithic period, more than 20,000 years ago, and the city has numerous National Historic Sites from Jōmon period shell middens, Yayoi period settlement remains, Kofun period burial mounds and Nara period temple ruins. From the Heian period, the estuary of the Takahashi River was a port, and the surrounding area was the setting for numerous battles.

During the Edo Period, the area had a complicated administration, with portions held by various feudal domains. The old town of Kurashiki and its port was held directly by the Tokugawa shogunate as tenryō territory and was a collection point for the annual rice taxes. Distinctive white-walled, black-tiled warehouses were built to store goods. The Kurashiki magistrate's office recognized the autonomy of the merchants and gave preferential treatment to them, resulting in an increase in the population as well as increased kokudaka, and local industries included cotton cloth weaving and salt production.

Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Kurashiki was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on June 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1891 and to city status April 1, 1928.{{cite web|url=http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kankou/JAPANESE%20STYLE/jp_style/CITY/history.html|publisher=City of Kurashiki|title=Kurashiki's History|date=August 7, 2006|access-date=August 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119204959/http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kankou/JAPANESE%20STYLE/jp_style/CITY/history.html|archive-date=January 19, 2007|url-status=dead}}

On August 1, 2005, the town of Mabi (from Kibi District), and the town of Funao (from Asakuchi District) were merged with Kurashiki.

In 2002, Kurashiki was designed a Core city with increased local autonomy.

Kurashiki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 43 members. Kurashiki contributes 14 members to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Okayama 4th district and Okayama 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Kurashiki is the second largest city in Okayama, and has a mixed economy based on commerce, agriculture and heavy industry. The Mizushima Rinkai Industrial Area, which spans the Mizushima and Tamashima areas, has factories centering on petrochemicals, steel, automobiles, and shipbuilding and is one of Japan's leading industrial complexes.

The city is home to several private universities and one public university.

• Kawasaki College of Allied Health Professions
• Kawasaki Medical School
• Kawasaki Medical University
• Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare
• Kurashiki City College (public)
• Kurashiki Sakuyo University
• Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts
• Okayama College

Kurashiki has 62 public elementary schools, and 26 public junior high schools and five public high school operated by the city government. There are ten public high schools operated by the Okayama Prefectural Board of Education and on combined middle/high school. In addition, there are four private high schools. The prefecture also operates three special education schools for the disabled.

The city has a North Korean school, {{Nihongo|Okayama Korean Elementary and Junior High School|岡山朝鮮初中級学校}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.chongryon.com/j/cr/link3.html |script-title=ja:ウリハッキョ一覧 |access-date=October 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219132215/http://www.chongryon.com/j/cr/link3.html |archive-date=December 19, 2015 |url-status=dead }}" ().

File:JR logo (west).svg JR West (JR West) - San'yō Shinkansen

• {{STN|Shin-Kurashiki|x}}

File:JR logo (west).svg JR West (JR West) - San'yō Main Line

• {{STN|Nakashō|x}} - {{STN|Kurashiki|x}} - {{STN|Nishiachi|x}} - {{STN|Shin-Kurashiki|x}}

File:JR logo (west).svg JR West (JR West) - Hakubi Line

• {{STN|Kurashiki|x}}

Mizushima Rinkai Railway - Mizushima Main Line

• {{STN|Kurashiki-shi|x}} - {{STN|Kyūjōmae|x|Okayama}} - {{STN|Nishitomii|x}} - {{STN|Fukui|x|Okayama}} - {{STN|Urada|x}} - {{STN|Yayoi|x}} - {{STN|Sakae|x|Okayama}} - {{STN|Tokiwa|x|Okayama}} - {{STN|Mizushima|x}} - {{STN|Mitsubishi-jikō-mae|x}}

20px Ibara Railway Company - Ibara Line

• {{STN|Kawabejuku|x}} - {{STN|Kibinomakibi|x}} - {{STN|Bitchū-Kurese|x}}

• File:JP Expressway E2.svg San'yō Expressway
• File:JP Expressway E30.svg Seto-Chūō Expressway
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|2}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|429}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|430}}
• {{jct|country=JPN|Route|486}}

Kurashiki maintains the following sister cities:[http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kurakoku/english/SisterCities/E_SisterCities.html Kurashiki's Sister/Friendship Cities]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• {{flagdeco|Austria}} Sankt Pölten, Austria, September 29, 1957
• {{flagdeco|United States}} Kansas City, Missouri, United States since May 28, 1972{{cite news | title=Learn more about Kansas City's sister cities and possible travel destinations | first=Jennifer | last=Silvey | date=July 28, 2019 | work=Fox 4 KC | url=https://fox4kc.com/news/learn-more-about-kansas-citys-sister-cities-and-possible-travel-destinations/ | access-date=January 19, 2021 | archive-date=May 5, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505080948/https://fox4kc.com/news/learn-more-about-kansas-citys-sister-cities-and-possible-travel-destinations/ | url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Japanese Tea Room and Garden|url=http://kcparks.org/facility/japanese-tea-room/|publisher=Kansas City Parks|access-date=October 18, 2017|archive-date=October 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019005609/http://kcparks.org/facility/japanese-tea-room/|url-status=dead}}
• {{flagdeco|New Zealand}} Christchurch, New Zealand, March 7, 1973
• {{flagdeco|People's Republic of China}} Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China, November 18, 1997

File:Japan Kurashiki quay 3 034.jpg

File:Kurashiki Canal Area.jpg

Kurashiki is the home of Japan's first museum for Western art, the Ohara Museum of Art. Established in 1930 by Magosaburō Ōhara, it contains paintings by El Greco, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, and Renoir. The collection also presents fine examples of Asian and contemporary art. The main building is designed in the style of Neoclassicism.

The old merchant quarter is called the Bikan historical area. It contains many fine examples of 17th century wooden warehouses (kura, 倉) painted white with traditional black tiles, along a canal framed with weeping willows and filled with koi. The area has no electric poles in order to make it more closely resemble the look of the Meiji period. One of the city's former town halls was located in the Kurashiki Kan, a European style building constructed in 1917.

In 1997 a theme park called Tivoli (after the park of the same name in Copenhagen) opened near Kurashiki Station. After ten years of operation it was closed in 2008, with a massive debt.

The Great Seto Bridge connects the city to Sakaide in Kagawa Prefecture across the Inland Sea.

Kenzo Tange, winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture, designed the former Kurashiki City Hall in 1960.

• Tatetsuki Site, Yaoi period ruins
• Yata Ōtsuka Kofun, Kofun period tumulus

Kurashiki has a variety of sports clubs, including former Japan Football League side Mitsubishi Mizushima.

• JX Nippon Oil & Energy Mizushima F.C. - Soccer
• Kurashiki Oceans - Baseball
• Kurashiki Peach Jacks - Baseball
• Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima FC - Soccer

Kurashiki was also the place where current J. League sides Vissel Kobe and Fagiano Okayama had their origins before moving.

• Umekichi Hiyama, Japanese female folk rhyme master belonging to the Rakugo Arts Association
• Senichi Hoshino, baseball player{{cite web|script-title=ja:星野仙一記念館|language=ja|trans-title=Hoshino Senichi Memorial Hall|url=http://kankou-kurashiki.jp/tourismguide_enjoy/001153.html|publisher=Kurashiki Convention & Visitors Bureau|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006105003/http://kankou-kurashiki.jp/tourismguide_enjoy/001153.html|url-status=dead}}
• Keitarou Izawa, a.k.a. Ichiyo Izawa, pianist, frontman of Appa, and former member of Tokyo Jihen
• Hisako Kanemoto, voice actress
• Mikio Kariyama, professional shogi player
• Kibi no Makibi, scholar and noble during the Nara period
• Megumi, actress
• Isamu Nagato, actor
• Magosaburō Ōhara, businessman and philanthropist{{cite web|script-title=ja:大原孫三郎から現代まで|language=ja|trans-title=From Magosaburo Ohara to the present |url=http://www.ohara.or.jp/201001/jp/B/B2b.html|publisher=Ohara Museum|access-date=2 October 2014}}
• Makiko Ohmoto, voice actress
• Yasuharu Ōyama, shogi player, the 15th Lifetime Meijin{{cite web|script-title=ja:７ 大山名人記念館（倉敷市芸文館内|url=http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/7743.htm|language=ja|publisher=Kurashiki City|access-date=30 September 2014}}{{cite web|script-title=ja:棋士紹介:物故棋士一覧|url=http://www.shogi.or.jp/player/bukko/index.html|language=ja|publisher=Japan Shogi Association|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923163145/http://www.shogi.or.jp/player/bukko/index.html|archive-date=23 September 2014}}
• Daisuke Takahashi, figure skater{{cite web|title=Daisuke TAKAHASHI Biography|url=http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00004810.htm|publisher=International Skating Union|access-date=February 20, 2018}}
• Keiji Tanaka, figure skater{{cite web | title=Biography|url=http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00010968.htm|publisher=International Skating Union|access-date=February 20, 2018}}
• Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, boxer
• Ahn Young-Hak, Japanese-born North Korean football midfielder

{{clear}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Kurashiki, Okayama}}

{{Wikivoyage|Kurashiki}}

• {{Official website|http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp}} {{in lang|ja}}
• [https://www.kurashiki-tabi.jp/ Kurashiki City Tourism]

{{Okayama}}

{{Metropolitan cities of Japan}}

{{Most populous cities in Japan}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Okayama Prefecture

Category:Populated coastal places in Japan