The ride to Fukiya was the longest ride of the original route, and because there are only four villas now, it’s actually slightly longer now. From Ushimado, you travel along a small local road that leads straight to the city of Okayama, through ordinary rural roads with scattered buildings interspersed with very nice stretches like this.

Every time I come to Okayama, I’m surprised to rediscover that it’s one of the few cities in Japan that still has streetcars. This is near Okayama Station; you need to get to the other (northwest) side of the station in order to continue on to Fukiya (not difficult; there’s even an underground pedestrian path a short distance to the west of the station). If you’d rather break up this long-ish ride, there are plenty of places to stay in downtown Okayama.