Overlook Urban City & Great Garden. - Okayama Castle -

The black appearance of Okayama Castle, just behind Okayama Prefectural Library across a street, has earned it the appellation "Ujo Castle" or "Crow Castle." The uniquely structured castle has the base of an irregular pentagon, and it is the only castle that keeps its shape in Japan. Considering the circumstances of the period when established, it was hard to build a castle in a pentagon. But the feudal load constructed the keep to raise the dignity of a ruler by making it bigger and making an impregnable fortress by erecting columns on the firm ground around the end of the 16th century. Burned from air raids in World War II, the keep was rebuilt in 1966 with the original outside appearance and a living room in a traditional Japanese style of residential architecture, named shoin-zukuri.

The three-layered, six-story keep has a panoramic view of the urban area, including Okayama Korakuen Garden. Bizenyaki Studio in the castle provides a class of Bizen pottery for visitors.

Various events, including Ujo Hatsuyume Festival and Okayama Momotaroh Festival, are held at the castle.

Ramble about Historical Strolling-Type Landscape Garden. - Okayama Korakuen Garden -

Okayama Korakuen Garden is one of the three great gardens in Japan, awarded three stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japan.

It is a strolling-type landscape garden established as an oasis for Load Ikeda, the feudal lord of Bizen Province in the Edo Period (1603-1867), with training grounds for Japanese archery and horse-riding. It was used as a place to recuperate well and to receive guests of honor for the lord. In addition, it was open to the people in the province on dates set previously.

The garden has a wide view of native Japanese lawns. Originally only ground visible from Enyo-tei House, or the main structure in the garden, was covered with lawn. Later, the lawn location became the current size.

Okayama Korakuen Garden has kept red-crowned cranes, called "tancho," featuring its red unfeathered head, since about 300 years ago, except for some time after World War Ⅱ. They died off from the deterioration of the rearing environment. In 1956, two cranes were brought to the garden by the head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who had studied at the Sixth Higher School in Okayama City. Today eight cranes are raised in cages and released into the garden on New Year's Day and the third of January. It is designated as a special natural treasure of Japan and the bird of Okayama City.

Okayama Korakuen Garden holds a lot of seasonal events, such as "New Year Celebration" from January 1 to January 3, "Goshinko Festival" on the first Sunday of April, "Yosai Tea Ceremony" on the fourth Sunday of April, "Tea Picking Festival" on the third Sunday of May, "Summer Fantasy Garden," including a beer garden, during August and "Moon Viewing Ceremony" on August 15 in the old lunar calendar. At New Year Celebration held on New Year's Day, long Japanese zithers named koto are played in Enyo-tei House. The event gives visitors the sense of the season.

Seasonally blooming flowers, such as cherry blossom, Hirado azalea, Kirishima azalea, Satsuki azalea, lotus blossom, Japanese plum blossom, are grown in the garden, providing glorious scenery.

One-kilometer rows of cherry trees are planted along the Asahi River Cherry Blossom Walk adjacent to the garden, and the blossoms in full bloom provide a gorgeous view from late March to early April. In the summertime, many local people take a stroll along the river to cool down.

Free Japanese-style rental parasols are available from July 8, 2022.

Enjoy Unique Powerful Dancing. - Okayama Momotaroh Festival -

"Okayama Momotaro Festival" is held in downtown Okayama in summer, autumn and winter. The main event takes place in summer.

In summer, energetic dances, called Uraja Dance, are performed by local young people in unique costumes, in various places, including Shiyakusho-suji Avenue in front of Aeon Mall Okayama and the square in front of East Gate of Okayama Station, on the first Saturday of August and the following Sunday. Uraja Parade and the dance performances by masses of dance groups, based on the legend of ogre extermination in Okayama, captivate spectators at the venues charged with intense excitement. The main venue, Shiyakusho-suji Avenue, abounds in performers and onlookers.

The autumn festival is held in October at Okayama Castle as the main venue, featuring the local dishes, performing arts, and history. Visitors can enjoy traditional performing arts, such as Japanese drums and dancing performed by locals, and a samurai historical pageant. There are various foods from street stalls serving local dishes of Okayama and other prefectures. The 2021 festival has been canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus.

In December, the square of East Gate of Okayama Station is illuminated at night. Nishigawa Illumination is also held in Nishigawa Canal Walk situated on the way to Okayama Castle from Okayama Station.

In the Japanese-Style Lyric World. - Yumeji Art Museum -

Yumeji Art Museum reopens on June 22.

Yumeji Takeshita born in Okayama Prefecture in 1884 was active as a lyric painter known for a lot of paintings of beautiful women and lyric poets in the early 20th century. His works entitled "Yumeji-style beauties" attract attention as mass art. Since his works were mass arts, the art world of Japan did not accept him in life. But its interest in his works has increased after World War Ⅱ.

The Yumeji Art Museum was opened in the immediate vicinity of Okayama Korakuen Garden in 1984 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. It houses roughly 3,000 of his works and documents in total, and about 100 of them are permanently exhibited.

Find out Ancient Japanese Local Culture. - Okayama Prefectural Museum -

Okayama Prefectural Museum is temporarily closed due to seismic reinforcement and renovation works from April 1, 2020, to around September 2022.

Just across from Okayama Korakuen Garden stands the Okayama Prefectural Museum, which serves as the center for the study of extremely prosperous Ancient Kibi Province and preserves substantial precious Cultural Properties. It is temporarily closed due to seismic reinforcement and renovation works from April 1, 2020, to around September 2022.

It opened as a commemorative project for the 100th anniversary of the prefectural government in 1971. The prefectural museum has collected and preserved cultural heritages from the primitive era to recent times, handing them down for posterity and displaying major cultural heritages.

The neighborhood has several interesting museums, including the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art.

Classical Dramas in Small Theaters - Taishu Engeki -

"Taishu Engeki" is a Japan-specific genre of theatrical plays having the identical origin as Kabuki and developed and spread as small-scale plays among the public. It is performed in small theaters, hotel banquet rooms, and health spas all over Japan. The fees are affordable compared with Kabuki and other commercial theatrical performances. The official site, "0481.jp," says there are over 130 theatrical companies, and they are traveling around the nation. Most of them are family-run with heads in their 20s or 30s. The shows consist of two major parts, a classical drama part such as a human-interest drama or a sword-fighting drama in modern Japanese, with a simple plot, and a dancing and music part.

Located 12 minutes walk from Okayama Station, "Korakuza" is one of 42 theaters specialized for Taishu Engeki in Japan. The three-hour performance is held twice a day, in the daytime and the evening. The hall decorated internally with Japanese-style lanterns seats two hundred people. Taishu Engeki plays are also performed at Yuba Hot Spring Kenkomura and Momotaro Hotel in Okayama City and Seto Ohashi Bridge Hot Spring Yamakou in Kurashiki City. The three facilities provide free shuttle bus services from Okayama Station.