From the Heian period, the estuary of the Takahashi River was a port, and the surrounding area was the setting for numerous battles.

The old town of Kurashiki and its port was held directly by the Tokugawa shogunate as tenryō territory and was a collection point for the annual rice taxes.

Following the Meiji restoration, the village of Kurashiki was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on June 1, 1889.

Kurashiki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 43 members.

Kurashiki is the second largest city in Okayama, and has a mixed economy based on commerce, agriculture and heavy industry.

It contains many fine examples of 17th century wooden warehouses (kura, 倉) painted white with traditional black tiles, along a canal framed with weeping willows and filled with koi.

One of the city's former town halls was located in the Kurashiki Kan, a European style building constructed in 1917.

The Great Seto Bridge connects the city to Sakaide in Kagawa Prefecture across the Inland Sea.

Kenzo Tange, winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture, designed the former Kurashiki City Hall in 1960.

Kurashiki has a variety of sports clubs, including former Japan Football League side Mitsubishi Mizushima.