Okayama
A great garden and a black castle
Go because it's home to one of the three finest landscape gardens in Japan — and a striking black castle right beside it.
Come for Kōraku-en, ranked among Japan's three great gardens, a spacious masterpiece of lawns, ponds and borrowed mountain views; the handsome black-walled "Crow Castle" across the river; and an easy, pleasant city that makes a fine base for the Inland Sea and nearby Kurashiki. A natural stop on the shinkansen between Osaka and Hiroshima.
Okayama doesn't shout for attention, and that's part of its appeal — a relaxed, sunny city (it calls itself the "Land of Sunshine" for its mild, dry weather) built around one truly great sight. Kōraku-en is the reason most people come, and it earns the detour: a garden of rare spaciousness and grace, with its dark castle rising beyond. Beyond the garden, Okayama is a comfortable, walkable place and an excellent base for exploring this stretch of the Inland Sea coast, the canal town of Kurashiki, and the art islands offshore.
A little background
Okayama grew as a castle town under the Ikeda lords in the Edo period, and it was they who laid out Kōraku-en in the late seventeenth century as a garden for the daimyō — a place of entertainment and retreat beside their castle. The castle's striking black weatherboarding earned it the nickname U-jō, "Crow Castle," in contrast to Himeji's White Heron. The keep was destroyed in the war and rebuilt, but the garden survives as one of the supreme achievements of Japanese landscape design.
What to see
Kōraku-en. The star: one of the "three great gardens" of Japan, laid out in a broad, open style with sweeping lawns, ponds, tea houses, a small plum and cherry grove, and the castle "borrowed" as a backdrop. Give it a leisurely couple of hours.
Okayama Castle. Just across the river from the garden, the black-lacquered "Crow Castle" — a rebuilt keep with a museum inside and good views from the top.
A base for exploring. Okayama is the jumping-off point for Kurashiki (15 minutes by train), the art island of Naoshima (via the nearby ports), and the Seto Inland Sea.
How to get there
Okayama is a Sanyō Shinkansen stop — about 45 minutes from Osaka and 35 from Hiroshima — which makes it an easy addition to a westbound trip. Kōraku-en and the castle are a short tram-and-walk or bus ride from the station. It's also the rail gateway to Shikoku, across the great Seto-Ōhashi bridge.
When to go & practical notes
Okayama's mild, sunny climate makes it pleasant much of the year; spring (blossom in the garden) and autumn are loveliest. Kōraku-en holds special evening illuminations at certain times of year, when the garden is lit after dark — lovely if your visit coincides. A half-day covers the garden and castle; combine it with Kurashiki for a full and rewarding day.