Day 3: Okayama (Okayama Castle)

Today we had to get up early to visit Okayama. First stop is Okayama Castle.

Journey to Okayama

We had to wake up early to pack, have breakfast, checkout from the hotel. The Shinkansen train from Tokyo to Okayama leaves the is due at 8:03. We waited for the breakfast buffet to open at 6:45 and wolfed down a full brekky. I took only 20 mins to finish my breakfast. I noticed this old Japanese guy next to me managed to guzzle through two hot plates in 10 mins!

We now consider ourselves seasoned Tokyo subway travellers. We jostle up and down stairways with the commuters. Miraculously, we made it to Tokyo station within 15 mins, despite having to change lines (and stations).

The journey on the Shinkansen was pretty uneventful. I noted the countryside seems far more developed than 9 years ago. I barely saw any farmland it seemed like an unbroken stretch of suburbia for hundreds of km.

We arrived at Okayama at around 12:30 and I bought some Hello Kitty souvenirs from the gift shop. One of them was Hello Kitty coming out of a giant peach. This is a reference to the Momotaro legend associated with the town.

Okayama Castle

Okayama Castle (岡山城) is a Japanese castle in the city of Okayama. It was originally completed in 1597 but partially destroyed in World War II and reconstructed in 1966. Two of the watch towers survived the bombing of 1945. They are now listed by the national Agency for Cultural Affairs as Important Cultural Properties.

The castle has a nickname of Crow Castle (烏城) or “castle of the black bird”. Gilded fish-shaped-gargoyles feature prominently on the roof. At one stage the castle had gilded roof tiles as well, earning it the nickname Golden Crow Castle (金烏城).

The outside of the castle was spectacular. I was a bit disappointed when I went inside the castle for a tour. It has a very modern and concrete interior. The interior is a museum documenting the castle’s history.