The last morning of a trip always moves slower than the rest. We let it.
This is the final day of our Golden Week road trip through Shikoku and Okayama — six of us in a campervan we built ourselves. A Yojima PA picnic with kids on the Seto Ohashi Bridge, a bakery where nothing costs much, and a slow crawl through Kurashiki before the drive home.
Utazu Rinkai Park: A Low-Key Morning by the Sea
We woke around seven. The kids went straight for the playground, then we walked the coast. The Seto Ohashi Bridge sat in the distance, long and flat against the water. No plan for the morning beyond this.
Genki Pan Kobo Gopan: A Bakery Where Every Loaf Costs Under 400 Yen
Before the bridge we stopped for breakfast supplies at Genki Pan Kobo Gopan, near Marugame. Everything under 400 yen. For around 200 you can still pick something filling. Plenty of choice, generous sizes. The kids chose their own — that was the part they carried with them all morning.
Yojima PA: The Quiet Picnic Spot in the Middle of Seto Ohashi Bridge
Yojima sits roughly at the midpoint of the Seto Ohashi Bridge. The service area has a lawn and an observation deck. We spread a sheet on the grass and ate the bakery bread with the bridge right above us. Clear sky again.
For us this was the find of the day. A picnic on grass, the bridge close enough to feel its scale, and hardly anyone around. It works well with small kids.
The Anpanman train actually came — what to know before you go
We were eating when someone said the Anpanman train might come. JR Shikoku runs Anpanman trains along the lower deck of the bridge, roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. Then one actually passed. Our three-year-old is deep in an Anpanman phase right now, and the older girls called out “the Anpanman train’s here!” — the whole lot of them, delighted.
The Anpanman train’s here.
We flew the drone here too. If you plan to, check the aviation rules for the area beforehand.
From the bridge we crossed into Okayama and made for Kurashiki.
Kurashiki Bikan District in Golden Week: What No One Tells You About Parking
Golden Week means crowds, and crowds mean the parking problem. What worked for us: start looking from the nearest lot and widen outward. If you push in too far hoping for something better, the closer spots vanish behind you.
The district itself is white-walled and old, still holding its Edo feel. Photogenic, good for shopping, good for food. Honest note — it’s a lot for a long stay with young kids. A couple could spend a whole day here easily.
Fu-de in Kurashiki: Buying Japanese Denim and the Story Behind It
We stopped at Fu-de, a jeans shop, and my wife bought a pair — in the twenty-thousand-yen range. What made it wasn’t just the fit. The staff took time to explain Kurashiki’s denim history.
These weren’t the famous re-imported Kojima jeans. They were made in Japan from surplus domestic fabric. Kurashiki is a town that handles the whole chain — fabric, cutting, tailoring. Knowing that changed how the purchase felt. Shape, colour, price, the story behind it, and the way we were treated in the shop. All of it, for us.
From the district it’s a short move to the park the local kids use.
Kurashiki Fureai Ka Park: The Playground Locals Actually Use
Parking runs about 100 yen an hour and sits right in front. Three play areas split by age, good equipment, clean toilets. After the crowds of Bikan, this is where our kids finally ran loose. If you’re doing Kurashiki with children, it pairs naturally with the sightseeing.
Then we pointed the van home. I keep thinking there’s no such thing as improving a trip. The weather, the timing, a plan changed on the spot — they land where they land, and that’s what makes it. This one won’t repeat. Which is maybe the only reason it was worth taking.
