The fifteen-kilometre-long Kibi Plain bicycle route , accessed either from Okayama or Kurashiki , is an enjoyable way to see an area of countryside studded with ancient burial grounds, shrines and temples. Running from Bizen-Ichinomiya Station in the east to Soja Station in the west, the route takes about four hours to cycle, or a full day to walk. Bikes can be rented at either station (¥200 per hour, or ¥1000 for the day) and dropped off at the other end.

In the fourth century this area was known as Kibi-no-kuni and was the centre of early Japanese civilization. Lords were buried in giant keyhole-shaped mounds known as kofun , one of which can be visited along the cycle route. Starting from Bizen-Ichinomiya Station, three stops from Okayama on the JR Kibi line, cross the tracks and follow the cycle path to Kibitsuhiko-jinja, an ordinary shrine beside a pond notable only for its huge stone lantern, one of the largest in Japan. Around 300m further southwest is the much more impressive Kibitsu-jinja , dating from 1425 and dedicated to Kibitsu-no-mikoto, the valiant prince who served as the inspiration for the legend of Momotaro , Japan's famous fairytale of a child who pops out of the centre of a giant peach after being rescued from a river by a childless farmer's wife. This shrine nestles at the foot of Mount Naka and has a magnificently roofed outer sanctum, with twin gables.

Several kilometres further west, is the Tsukuriyama-kofun , a burial mound constructed in the fifth century in the characteristic shape of a keyhole (only really appreciated from the air). Measuring 350m in length and 30m at its highest point, this wooded mound in the midst of rice-fields is the fourth largest kofun in Japan. Around 1km kilometre east of here is a cluster of sights, including the foundation stones of Bitchu Kokubun-niji, an eighth-century convent, another burial mound and the five-storeyed pagoda of Bitchu Kokubun-ji , a temple, dating from the seventeenth century.

It's another couple of kilometres to the train station at Soja , from where you can either return to Okayama or to Kurashiki. Before leaving check out Iyama Hofuku-ji , a pretty Zen Buddhist temple, 1km north of Soja Station along a footpath that follows the railway line. The celebrated artist and landscape gardener Sesshu Toyo (1420-1506) trained here as a priest.