Features
Let me first introduce you two courses going towards the current Okayama Castle. The first one is the course going to the front side of the castle from Okayama Station. The second one is that going to the back side along the riverside of Asahigawa. After reaching the castle, let us enter the restored main tower of the castle. By going to The Okayama Korakuen Garden, you will feel like the lord of the castle.
The Course to the Front side from Okayama Station
It takes about 2km from Okayama Station to the castle. Therefore, it may be a good idea for you to use the city tram or a rental bicycle.
If you go straight along Momotaro-Odori Street from the station, you will eventually find the area around the street turning into the city area. However, you will also find some explanation panels which say there were the outer moat or the middle moat.
You will eventually arrive at the end of the street, which was inside the inner moat in the past. I recommend you turn to the right because you will soon see the Nishite Turret on the western enclosure, which is one of the few remaining buildings of the castle. It has been designated as a National Important Cultural Property. The turret stood facing the moat.
Let us next walk around the western enclosure along the current roads. You will see the remaining stone walls of the enclosure along them. The roads you are walking on were the moats around the enclosure. You will eventually reach the ruins of Ishiyama-mon Gate. Its gate building was unfortunately burned down during World War II. The entrance of the gate was connected by a bridge on the moat to the outside in the past.
If you go further, you will see the birthplace of the castle, called “Ishiyama-no-shiro” (which means Ishiyama Castle). However, the stone walls around it were built during the period of the Ikeda Clan, which was much later than when it had been born. If you go around it to the eastern entrance, you will notice it is used as a parking lot now. An interesting thing there is the view of the main tower from the west, which looks very narrow.
You will finally arrive at the main enclosure of the castle. You can go across the bridge over the inner moat, called “Meyasu-Bashi”. The front gate, called “Uchigeba-mon” has a square space being surrounded by its stone walls, called Masugata, though its building didn’t survive.
The main enclosure has three tiers. They are called Hondan, Naka-no-dan, and Shita-no-dan from the top. The Naka-no-dan (which means the middle tier) has been extended during the Kobayakawa and Ikeda Periods. Therefore, the tier has mixed stone walls coming from both periods. If you walk on the lowest tier, the Shita-no-dan (which means the low tier), you will see the stone walls of Onando Turret. They were built during the Kobayakawa Period. The stone walls of the Hondan (which means the main tier) were also modified. When you see their connecting part to the middle tier, you will notice they look very complex. This was because the Kobayakawa and Ikeda Clans renovated them.
If you walk up on the ruins of Kurogane-mon gate, you will be at the middle tier. You will also see Akazu-no-mon Gate, the entrance of the main tier nearby.
The Course to the Back side along Asahigawa River
Our next course will start from Kyobashi Bridge over Asahigawa River. The bridge was first built during the period of Hideie Ukita.
If you go on the riverside, you will see the ruins of the eastern gate and Soken-yashiki Turret. They are over 500m from the center of the castle, so you can imagen how large the castle was. You will then find other ruins of a turret, which was located in a senior vassal’s residence at the second enclosure. The total number of the turrets were 30! You will eventually see the distant view of the main tower.
You should check out the amazing stone walls when you reach the main enclosure. They are called the high stone walls of the southeastern part of the main tier. They were piled up using natural stones in the method called Nozura-zumi during the Ukita period. Their height is about 15m which was one of the highest stone walls at that time. They look like those of Azuchi Castle, whose method was probably followed by Okayama Castle.
If you go further along the river towards the main tower, you will find the joint section of the stone walls of the Ukita and Kobayakawa Periods. The sizes of the stones used in the Kobayakawa Period are smaller than those in the Ukita Period. The reason for it is uncertain, but it might have come from an urgent construction by the Kobayakawa Clan. You will eventually arrive at the stone wall base of the main tower after passing a gate which was built during the Ikeda Period.
Many of the stone of the base look burnt. This was because the original main tower collapsed into this side when it was burned down during World War II. These stone walls are a living witness to the Japanese history.
You will soon enter the rebuilt back gate of the main enclosure, called Roka-mon, near the main tower. The inside of the gate is the middle tier of the enclosure.
