Okayama

Okayama Castle

岡山城 Okayama-jō

Popularly known as Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō), it is so named for its striking black color, rare among Japanese castles (which tend to be white, like neighboring Himeji Castle). Only a few protruding bits and the occasional lucky fish-gargoyle (金の鯱 kinnoshachihoko) are gilded. With the exception of one external turret, the current version dates from 1966, but the outside is much more accurate than most Japanese castle replicas, as the original blueprints were used to rebuild it. In the tower is a museum documenting the castle's history, although English explanations are few and far between. On the first floor of the castle, you can also make your own Bizen pottery for an extra fee.

Closed · opens 9 am·¥300 (except during special exhibits) · Built 1346

Animo Museum

アニモ・ミュージアム

A museum established to honor Okayama native and Olympic marathon medalist Yuko Arimori. Here you can see her silver medal from Barcelona, bronze medal from Atlanta, and other Olympics memorabilia.

Closed · opens 10 am·¥300

Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art

岡山県立美術館

A large museum housing approximately 2,000 works by famous artists throughout Okayama Prefecture. The museum's permanent exhibition features art dating back as far as the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), such as work by the priest Sesshu and the swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, as well as Bizen pottery and works by more contemporary artists.

Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00·¥350, discount with student ID

Okayama Prefectural Museum

岡山県立博物館

An excellent museum with a variety of artifacts excavated from various areas throughout Okayama Prefecture from prehistoric artifacts to the Edo and Meiji Periods. Some highlights of the museum are the famous Bizen swords and Bizen pottery. It's just outside the main entrance to Korakuen, so it's well worth a stop.

Apr-Sep: Tue-Sun 09:00-18:00, Oct-Mar: Tue-Sun 09:30-17:00·¥250

Okayama Orient Museum

岡山市立オリエント美術館

An interesting museum of Middle Eastern art. The special exhibit details art and trade between China and Persia. If you can speak conversational Japanese, talk with the friendly docents; they will present some highly interesting explanations and background. However, the dates and areas are clearly marked, and the artifacts themselves are interesting enough that you don't need to have a guide to enjoy them.

Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00·¥300 adults, discounts with student ID

Yumeji Art Museum

夢二郷土美術館

A museum featuring the works of Okayama-born artist Yumeji Takehisa, a well-known artist throughout Japan. He is best known for producing paintings and sketches of beautiful women, and many such works are on display in the museum.

Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00·¥700 · Wi-Fi

Hayashibara Museum of Art

林原美術館

A small museum which houses the private collection of the Ikeda Family, the former Lords of Okayama. The collection features Japanese and Chinese works, primarily calligraphy and scrolls. Pottery, beautiful textiles, samurai armor, and other works may also be on display; however, because the museum is not large enough to display the entire collection at once, the exhibits are rotated often.

Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00·¥500

Okayama Symphony Hall

岡山シンフォニーホール

The third largest symphony hall in Japan, it hosts shows by the resident Okayama Symphony Orchestra as well as performers from across Japan and all over the world.

The ticket center is open 10AM-6:30PM. It's closed on the second and fourth Tue of every month·Prices vary by show

Handayama Botanical Garden

岡山市半田山植物園

A botanical garden filled with various types of flowers. It's particularly beautiful during the spring cherry blossom season; however, one can easily enjoy this garden anytime of the year. It's a 10-minute walk from Hokaiin Station on the JR Tsuyama Line. There are also buses from JR Okayama Station.

Wed-Mon 09:00-16:30·¥308

Ikeda Zoo

池田動物園

Ikeda Zoo offers many of the typical zoo animals: elephants, giraffes, tigers, lions, and a variety of birds and monkeys. The most unique animals here are perhaps the tapirs and the red pandas. It's a short distance northwest of JR Okayama Station.

Apr-Oct: daily 09:00-17:30, Nov-Mar: daily 09:00-17:00·¥1080 for adults, ¥840 for high school students, ¥630 for middle school and elementary school students, and ¥315 for children over 3 years of age

Okayama Prefectural Multipurpose Grounds

岡山県総合グラウンド

The Multipurpose Grounds contain a wide variety of sports facilities, including a pool (only open in July and August), tennis courts, a baseball field, gymnasium, and track and field area. It is also home to City Light Stadium where the J-League soccer team Fagiano Okayama plays. Other local teams and university teams also use the facilities. If you're interested in watching sports, check the schedule of events. There is also a small Sports Museum near the stadium. The phone number listed here is for the stadium however, each facility has its own phone number. If you need to contact a specific facility, check the website for its number.

Hours vary by facility, event, and season·Prices vary by activity or event

Okayama City Museum

岡山シティミュージアム

Formerly known as the Okayama Digital Museum, the permanent exhibit uses modern technology to showcase the city's history, local culture, and nature, but it's the special exhibits that attract most visitors. The special exhibits cover a wide range of subjects from classic famous art exhibits to interactive exhibits for children. To determine whether or not this museum is of interest, it's best to check their website to see what will be featured during your visit.

Closed · opens 10 am·Prices vary depending on the exhibit

Milenga

ミレンガ

One of the best places in Japan to get authentic Bangladeshi meals (thali). Vegetarian meals are just ¥750 and Chicken is ¥850. There are also excellent dishes. Milenga is halal and has a prayer room.

Closed · opens 11:30 am·From ¥750 · Vegetarian options

Kibiji Literary Museum

吉備路文学館

Displays of original works and transcripts from famous authors from the Okayama area. It helps to have Japanese reading ability and an interest in Japanese literature, of course. It's just north of the city center, a couple blocks east of the Nishi-gawa Canal.

Tue-Sun 09:30-17:00·¥400

Okaden Museum & Mitooka Eiji Design

おかでんミュージアム＋水戸岡鋭治デザイン

The Okaden Museum is a museum dedicated to Okayama's Okaden tram. Inside you can see the tram's "station master" cat, Momo along with videos, train models, and artwork. Overall, it's more of a fun place to take children who like trains/the tram than a museum. It really doesn't have any objects or information but instead features train and other toys that kids can play with. It's at the terminus of the Higashiyama Line so outside there are out-of-use trams and you can also see the trams coming and going.

Closed · opens 10 am·¥1000

Senju

鮮寿

Omakase nigiri is the order of the day at this sushi restaurant, where the chef is keen to serve samples of that morning's catch.

Tue-Sun 11AM-4PM, 5PM-midnight·Lunch ¥1500, dinner ¥2500 for what's in season or ¥4500 all out

Tenjin Soba

天神そば

Despite its name, this restaurant specializes in ramen, not buckwheat soba. Named after the dish it is most famous for, tenjin soba, soy sause-based ramen topped with four slices of boiled pork. This is considered to be the best ramen restaurant in the city, as the flavor of the tenjin soba is truly "heavenly".

Mon-Fri 11AM-4:40PM·Average price ¥750

Asuka

飛鳥

Serves aji sashimi, vinegared aji and deep-fried aji, along with a variety of other sashimi. It's also a decent place to try Okayama's mackerel (sawara) dishes and other seasonal specialties. Perhaps more of a drinking spot/pub than a restaurant, Asuka is still a fine place for food and drink and an excellent place to experience "after-work Japan" in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

Thu-Sat Mon-Tue 11AM-10PM·Prices vary and cheap options are available, but most dishes cost over ¥1100. Sets over ¥2000

Bar Vagabond

A well-stocked wine cellar with whiskeys from around the world. In addition to the type of whiskey, you can also choose your preferred quality (age). Prices vary accordingly.

Tue-Sat 7PM-2AM·Alcohol from ¥700. Bottle wine from ¥5000

Korean Cafe and Dining Tanatana

One of Okayama's most popular (and expensive) Korean restaurants, most famous for its Korean-style hot pot.

6PM-midnight·¥3000 and up

Sci-Pia Science and Humanity Museum for the Future

岡山県生涯学習センター 人と科学の未来館サイピア

A small space museum with various exhibits about space study, telescopes, and satellites among other things. The main draw is the planetarium which has viewings at specified times throughout the day with various videos and themes changing throughout the year.

Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00·Museum free, Planetarium ¥300

Teppan Ku-ya

Teppanyaki restaurant in the city center with à la carte or menu set. Great food/drink menu and the staff speaks English well. Seasonal menu (e.g. Sakura) is reasonably priced. Reservation is recommended as the place is small (about 20 places in total).

6PM-midnight

Raccos Burger

A popular local burger joint, Raccos Burger has a very retro feel. The signature Raccos Burger is a burger topped with lettuce, onions, tomato, avocado, and cheese. They also have chili-cheese burgers, barbeque burgers, fish burgers, shrimp salad burgers, and spam burgers among others. Other offerings include toasted sandwiches, chili cheese fries, onion rings, tortillas, etc. Menus written in Japanese and English.

10AM-midnight·Burgers ¥500

Hamasaku

浜作

A teppanyaki restaurant with local seafood specialties, including oysters.

11:30AM-2PM, 5PM-10PM·¥3150 and up

Piano Bar

Tucked away on a back street, this place is cozy, relaxing, and looks straight out of a movie. It is the most perfect little jazz spot ever. The proprietor is friendly and can speak English. Between occasional live events, staff entertains on the piano and bass. A full bar and light snacks are available.

8PM-1AM·Cover charge is ¥300

Omotecho Shotengai

表町商店街

shopping street is a 10-minute walk from JR Okayama Station, or 3 tram stops away on the Higashiyama line (get off at Shiroshita Station). It has everything from game arcades and kimono retailers to antique shops and a multi-story Maruzen bookstore, and the large Tenmaya department store. There are a lot of locally owned clothing and specialty shops, as well. The shopping street is quite long, extending from where it branches off Momotaro-Odori Street all the way down to Saidaiji-cho, around Saidaiji Tram Station. There is another shopping complex near the street, Cred. Cred has a large Kinokuniya bookstore with a sizable selection of English-language and Japanese learning books, as well as a Virgin CD/DVD store.

Ancient Kibi Cultural Properties Center

岡山県古代吉備文化財センター

A small museum housing artifacts from the ancient Kibi Kingdom. Although the information is all in Japanese, one does not need to be able to read the information to appreciate the artifacts, which are mainly clay figurines and pottery. It is located.

Closed · opens 9 am·Free

点字ブロック発祥の地

Tactile paving (also called tenji blocks (点字ブロック), truncated domes, detectable warnings, tactile tiles, tactile ground surface indicators, tactile walking surface indicators, or detectable warning surfaces) is a system of textured ground surface indicators found at roadsides (such as at curb cuts), by and on stairs, and on railway station platforms, to assist pedestrians who are visually impaired. Tactile warnings provide a very distinctive surface pattern of truncated domes, cones or bars, detectable by a long cane or underfoot, which are used to alert the vision-impaired of approaching streets and hazardous surface or grade changes. There is disagreement between the design and user…

Ajitsukasa Nomura

味司 野村

This restaurant serves a variety of katsu dishes, including Okayama's local specialty, Demi-katsudon, katsudon topped off with a demiglace sauce.

11AM-9PM·Prices range from ¥560-1600

Kibitsu Shrine

吉備津神社

Last rebuilt in 1425, this shrine is important for two reasons: it was once the head shrine of the entire Kibi Kingdom, and legend holds that Prince Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto fought the demon Ura on this site. He shot arrows at the demon, but the demon evaded his attacks by throwing boulders at the arrows. Finally, the prince shot two arrows at the same time, hitting the demon directly in the eye (but not yet killing him - read on).

Free