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Green, rural, lovely Okayama would be a great place to relax and get away from city life even without the existence of the Okayama International Villas. But the presence of these excellent low-cost lodges makes Okayama one of the best places to go in Japan. Built by the prefecture specifically to allow foreign travelers to experience rural Japan, these represent the best of the current effort to restimulate rural communities that have suffered from radical depopulation as the younger people gravitate to the cities. Each of the villas is different - some are old farmhouses, others are modern lodges - but all are well equipped with cooking and laundry facilities. They are all worth a visit, and at least two would be considered outstanding luxury accommodations by any definition.

This is the route I designed to guide a group of foreign visitors through the prefecture, hopping from villa to villa, in the spring of 1994. We start at Ushimado in the east and make a huge counterclockwise circle, up the mountain to Hattoji, north to isolated Koshihata, down to the hot springs at Takebe, west to the picturesque mountain town of Fukiya and finally south to end up at Shiraishi on an island in the Japan Sea.


Story & Photos
Route
Nuts & Bolts
Alternatives
Back to Destinations

















	Green, rural, lovely Okayama would be a great place to relax and get away from city life even without the existence of the Okayama International Villas. But the presence of these excellent low-cost lodges makes Okayama one of the best places to go in Japan. Built by the prefecture specifically to allow foreign travelers to experience rural Japan, these represent the best of the current effort to restimulate rural communities that have suffered from radical depopulation as the younger people gravitate to the cities. Each of the villas is different - some are old farmhouses, others are modern lodges - but all are well equipped with cooking and laundry facilities. They are all worth a visit, and at least two would be considered outstanding luxury accommodations by any definition. This is the route I designed to guide a group of foreign visitors through the prefecture, hopping from villa to villa, in the spring of 1994. We start at Ushimado in the east and make a huge counterclockwise circle, up the mountain to Hattoji, north to isolated Koshihata, down to the hot springs at Takebe, west to the picturesque mountain town of Fukiya and finally south to end up at Shiraishi on an island in the Japan Sea.