Okayama

Travel Guide

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Best Events

• Festivals

  

  • Bicchu Takahashi Matsuyama Odori
  • Uraja

• Cherry Blossom

  

  • Tsuyama Castle

• Fireworks Festivals

  

  • Kasaoka Port Matsuri Fireworks Show
  • Tsuyama Noryo Gongo Festival in Yoshii-gawa River

Top Things to do

• Okayama Korakuen

  4.5

  1692 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Okayamashi Kita-ku Kourakuen 1-5

  This Japanese stroll garden is located in Okayama City and named one of the Big Three Japanese Gardens. Construction of the garden began in 1687 by Tsunamasa Ikeda, Lord of Okayama, with its initial completion in 1700. Since this time, it was beloved and enjoyed as a place of relaxation for the feudal lord and as a place of interaction with the retainers and people of the domain. One can see the footprints of history through the structural remains preserved in the expansive 144,000 square meters area and enjoy blooms in each season dotting the park. The Korakuenmae bus stop is the closest public transport stop.

• Ohara Museum of Art

  4.5

  698 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Kurashikishi Chuou 1-1-15

  Located in the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, this museum was Japan’s first private museum dedicated to Western art. The museum was built by Kurashiki industrialist Magosaburo Ohara in 1930. The Main Gallery, styled like a Greek temple, remains as it looked when the museum first opened. Inside, works by master Western painters such as Cezanne, Degas, and Renoir are on display. Several gallery concerts are held each year, a tradition which began in 1950.

• Kibitsu-jinja Shrine

  4.5

  363 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Okayamashi Kita-ku Kibitsu 931

  A Shinto shrine primarily dedicated to Kibitsu-hiko-no-mikoto, a prince who subjugated rebels and brought peace and order to this area as one of the four mighty Shido Shogun. Kibitsu-hiko-no-mikoto is also known as the model for the legend of Momotaro, one of Japan’s most popular folktales. The shrine is one of the largest in the old San’yodo area. The front shrine and main shrine, built in the hiyoku irimoya-zukuri style, are designated National Treasures, and were rebuilt in 1425 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Must-see highlights include the shrine’s roughly 400 meter long covered gallery, and the various flowers which grow on the grounds year round. The shrine is famous for the Narukama Shinji, a ritual in which the whistling of a steaming iron pot is used for fortune telling purposes. The nearest station is Kibitsu Station.

• Bitchu Matsuyama Castle

  4.5

  289 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Takahashishi Uchisange 1

  Bitchu Matsuyama Castle stands at the highest elevation above sea level in Japan at 430 meters as a castle which has a surviving keep. The castle was originally built on Omatsuyama by an Ukan town feudal lord, Akiba Shigenobu during the Kamakura period It was restored by Mizunoya Katsumune in 1683 and retains that castle keep appearance to this day. You can see the vestiges of a castle that was called impregnable, a solid wall of rock rising up to the mountain top. It is also famous as you can observe the apparition of a sea of clouds floating by in the early morning from the end of September to early April. Bitchu Matsuyama Castle was used in the opening shot of the “Taiga” (a long running historical drama on NHK) drama series called “Sanada Maru”.

• Tsuyama Castle (Kakuzan Park)

  4.0

  169 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Tsuyamashi Sange 135

  This castle ruin park is located near the Tsuyama Wonder Museum in Tsuyama City. One of Japan's three major mountain castles, it once had 60 towers and was built by Mori Ranmaru's younger brother Mori Tadamasa on Mt. Kaku. Although all buildings were destroyed with the ordinance for the disposal of castles, the Bichu Yagura was restored as a characteristic building of a mountain castle in 2005 and is open to the general public. The ruins of the castle became Kakuzan Park, and is also famous as a place for viewing cherry blossoms that was chosen as one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots, and has particularly splendid night cherry blossoms illuminated by small lamps with paper shades.

• Kibitsuhiko-jinja Shrine

  4.0

  152 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Okayamashi Kita-ku Ichinomiya 1043

  This shrine is located at the foot of Kibi no Nakayama in the Ichinomiya area of Kita Ward, Okayama City. The main shrine building is on the site of the residence of Okibitsuhiko no mikoto, who suppressed Kibi no Kuni, and has him as the principal shrine god. The shrine is also called “Asahi no Miya” (shrine of the morning sun) because the sun rises directly in front of the main torii gate and enters the mirror in the shrine on the summer solstice.

• Achi-jinja Shrine

  4.0

  213 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Kurashikishi Honmachi 12-1

  This shrine stands atop a small hill in a corner of the Bikan Historical Quarter. The land is connected with the family of Achi no Omi, who came to Japan from the Korean Peninsula during the time of Emperor Ojin and helped develop Kibi Province, the predecessor to modern-day Okayama, with new technologies. The shrine grounds are home to the largest Akebono wisteria tree in the country; the best time to visit is when the tree is in bloom, from the end of April through May. The shrine sells Achi no Fujimori charms which contain wisteria seeds and are said to bring long life and good health.

• Saijo Inari (Saijo Inari-san Myokyoji Temple)

  4.0

  121 Reviews

  Okayama Pref. Okayamashi Kita-ku Takamatsuinari 712

  A Nichiren Buddhist temple located in Kita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture officially known as the Saijo Inari-san Myokyoji Temple. Founded around 785 by the great priest Ho’on, despite being a Buddhist temple rather than a Shinto shrine, the Saijo Inari is considered one of Japan’s three largest Inari temples. The temple survived the anti-Buddhist movement of the Meiji period unscathed. Permitted to engage in rituals syncretizing Buddhism and Shintoism, the temple is a rare example of an Inari “shrine” which follows Buddhist traditions. The temple grounds are marked by Shinto torii gates and the main temple building is built in the Shinto jingu style. Since ancient times, the temple has been believed to grant worshipers a variety of benefits, including prosperity in business, better fortunes, and traffic safety.

• Roadside Station Kasaoka Bay Farm

  4.0

  59 Reviews

  245-5 Kabuto Minami-cho, Kasaoka-shi, Okayama-ken

  This roadside station is located along National Route 2 in the Kabuto Minamimachi area of Kasaoka City. Besides selling specialty products such as local fresh agricultural products and fresh fish, it also offers buffets using delicious land-based food and seafood of Kasaoka. There is also a snack corner and shop selling freshly baked bread. In addition, you can enjoy flowers throughout the year with the approximately one million sunflowers that bloom in flower fields on Kasaoka Bay’s reclaimed land.