Okayama Castle was built in 1597 by UKITA Naoie and his son, Hideie.
It is said that the appearance of Okayama Castle tower looked like Azuchi Castle built by ODA Nobunaga or Osaka Castle built by TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi.

The castle tower of Okayama Castle has three roofs and six stories. The walls of Okayama Castle tower are covered by weatherboards with black lacquer painting. Because of this appearance, the nickname of Okayama Castle is "U-Jyo", which means a castle of crow.

The main bailey of Okayama Castle remain along the Asahi River. The inner moat surrounding the main bailey is wide. You will cross an earth-paved bridge to Okayama Castle.

The main gate was located after passing the earth-paved bridge. The buildings of the main gate were lost and only a stone-covered foundation remains.

The main baily of Okayama Castle has three different stages with heights. The main gate is located in the lowest stage. You will go up a small slop to the "Kurogane Mon" Gate, which is the entrance of the second stage of the main bailey. You will see the "Fumei-Mon" gate behind the "Kurogane Mon" Gate,

On the second stage, the sites of the buildings were shown on the grand. At the north-west corner, the "Tsukimi Yagura" Turret was located.

The "Tsukimi" Turret is the original building, which was built in the 1620s. The "Tsukimi" Turret is designated as an important property of Japan.

From the middle stage, you will see the castle tower.

The final gate to the castle tower is the "Fumei-Mon" Gate. "Fumei-Mon" means the gate which is usually closed. "Fumei-Mon" Gate was rebuilt in 1966.

After passing through the "Fumei-Mon" Gate, you will see the castle tower of Okayama Castle.

The castle tower of Okayama Castle remained until 1944. However, the castle tower was destroyed by airstrikes during World War II. The current castle tower of Okayama Castle was rebuilt in 1966. The appearance of the rebuilt castle tower was designed to be the same as the original one.

You can climb up to the top floor of the castle tower and you can see the Korakuen Garden, which is located to the north of Okayama Castle across the Asahi River. The "Tsukimi" bridge to the "Korakuen" Garden can be seen on the left picture.

You can also see a golden dolphinlike fish installed at the corners of the roofs. The golden dolphinlike fish was shining on the roof of Okayama Castle.

The bottom floor of the castle tower has a scalene pentagon shape. You will see this unique architecture from the north side of Okayama Castle.

After visiting Okayama Castle, I walked to the Korakuen Garden across the "Tsukimi" Bridge. The view of the castle tower of Okayama Castle was very impressive.

How to get there
From Tokyo, take a "Nozomi" or a "Hikari" for Japan Rail Pass travelers to Okayama.
From Okayama Station, take a street car bound for Higashiyama. You can get off at Shiroshita Station. Okayama Castle is approximately ten minute walk from Shiroshita Station.

Other Historical Sites near by:
Korakuen Garden
Kibitsuhiko Shrine
Kibitsu Shrine
Bicchu Kokubunji Temple
Bikan Historical Quarter in Kurashiki