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) has enjoyed a reputation as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan since its completion in 1700. Unusually for a Japanese garden, most of the park is taken up by expansive lawns, which are broken up by ponds, tea houses and other Edo-period buildings, including a nō (stylised dance drama) stage. Despite suffering major damage during floods in the 1930s and air-raids in the 1940s, Kōraku-en remains much as it was in feudal times, when it was the private playground of the daimyō and his favoured retainers. The park was opened to the public in 1884, and has been a favourite destination for large crowds of locals and tourists ever since.

Several stalls around the park offer drinks and an opportunity to try Momotarō’s favourite snack – sweet white millet cakes known as kibi-dango. For a tea house experience on the island of Naka-no-shima, see Drinking, Click here.

The park is a 20-minute walk up Momotarō-Ōdōri from the station. Alternatively, take the Higashi-yama tram to the Shiroshita stop (¥100) in front of the cylindrical Okayama Symphony Hall building. From here, it’s a short walk – there are signs to point you in the right direction.

OKAYAMA-JŌ

Known to locals as U-jō (; Crow Castle), the striking black Okayama-jō (Okayama Castle; 225-2096; 2-3-1 Marunouchi; admission ¥300, additional charge for special exhibitions; 9am-5pm) was built by Ukita Hideie, the daimyō who was one of the most powerful men in the country for a brief period in the late 16th century. Completed in 1597, the castle was one of the largest in Japan, boasting 35 turrets and 21 gates and reaching as far as Yanagawa-suji, traversed by the tram system today. Over the next three centuries, it served as the seat of power for 15 successive lords. Much of the castle was taken down after the Meiji Restoration, and most of what remained burned down during Allied air-raids at the end of WWII, with only the stone walls and the small tsukima-yagura (moon-viewing turret) surviving intact. The castle was rebuilt in 1966. The interiors may strike purists as too modern, but the outside of the building is an impressive sight, and there are good views of Kōraku-en from the top of the central keep.

MUSEUMS

Probably the most interesting of the museums spread around Okayama’s culture zone is the Okayama Orient Museum (232-3636; 9-31 Tenjin-chō; admission ¥300; 9am-5pm, closed Mon), north of the end of Momotarō-Ōdōri, where the tram line turns south. The museum houses 3000 artefacts from the ancient Middle East, and holds regular special exhibitions. It’s a short walk from the Shiroshita tram stop.

Close to the back entrance of the castle, near the corner of the moat, the Hayashibara Museum of Art (223-1733; 2-7-15 Marunouchi; admission ¥300; 9am-5pm, closed Mon; ) exhibits items from a collection of calligraphy, armour, and paintings that was once the property of the Ikeda clan (who ruled Okayama for much of the Edo period). Opposite the main entrance to Kōraku-en is the slightly run-down Okayama Prefectural Museum (272-1149; 1-5 Kōraku-en; admission ¥200; 9am-6pm Apr-Sep, 9.30am-5pm Oct-Mar, closed Mon; ), which has Japanese-only displays on local history, including swords and some old Bizen pottery.

North of Kōraku-en is the Yumeji Art Museum (271-1000; 2-1-32 Hama; admission ¥700; 9am-5pm, closed Mon; ), displaying works by local poet and artist Takehisa Yumeji (1884–1934). Not far away, on the main road, the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art (225-4800; 8-48 Tenjin-chō; admission ¥300; 9am-5pm, closed Mon; ) was recently refurbished and has now re-opened. Local Okayama art is on display, supplemented by temporary exhibits.

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MOMOTARō, THE PEACH BOY

Okayama-ken and Kagawa-ken on the island of Shikoku are linked by the legend of Momotarō, the Peach Boy, who emerged from the stone of a peach and, backed up by a monkey, a pheasant and a dog, defeated a three-eyed, three-toed people-eating demon. There are statues of Momotarō at JR Okayama station, and the city’s biggest street is named after him. The island of Megi-jima, off Takamatsu in