Our sleep at Panda Cottage Inn was comfortable, and we were even able to figure out the laundry machine. While the main draw of Okayama was visting Kōraku-en, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, close in second was the original location of Okayama Kobo! The origin story for Salt and Butter, the original lived up to all the hype. The crescent milk bread, panda cookie buns, matcha red bean bun, and cream bun were each high quality – it made Mitsui Gardens’ home bakery pale in comparison, and even came with a free coffee!

Korakuen itself was built in a rural country landscape, emphasising the fields with backdrops of trees and mountains. The stunning perspectives and immaculate scenes throughout were simultaneously calming and striking, including a giant rock that was cut up and moved at the behest of an ancient lord. We also visited Okayama castle nearby, a very impressive recreation that featured a museum through its’ multi story innards. While there wasn’t much English available, we got to see armor and artifacts of the time that were interesting nonetheless.

Before moving on, we made a quick stop at the surprisingly good park cafe for matcha and kibi dango, a specialty of Okayama historically made with millet and known as the favored food of Momotarou. After a bus back, we ate lunch at Sobakichi, an excellent soba and tamagogohan stop, except for being temporarily forgotten about.

For the afternoon, we went to Kurashiki, a nearby town known and named for its’ neighborhoods full of rice storage facilities along idyllic canals. The silos have since been converted to all manner of cafes, restaurants, and shops, including (surprisingly) one of Lu’s favorite shops, The Serious Labourer. Lu got a new custom Traveller’s Notebook alongside a bunch of other stuff from the exceptionally nice and accomodating staff – the notebook was hand made, a process that normally takes days to setup! And I got myself a little brass bullet travel pencil. We quickly saw the canal, grabbed a coffee, and headed back in time for our reservation at Miroku, the Japanese term for Maitreya, the future Buddha.

Miroku was a teppanyaki place I found on Tabelog, known for its’ sweet sweet chiyagyu, the local and historic black cow breed of wagyu. The vibe was modern and elevated, with comfortable white couches and immaculate presentation. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the food!

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