Okayama

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Okayama 岡山
—  Designated city  —
岡山市 · Okayama City
Skyline of Okayma in front of Okayama Station
Flag
Location of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture
Okayama
Coordinates: 34°39′N 133°55′E / 34.65°N 133.917°E / 34.65; 133.917
Country	Japan
Region	Chūgoku
Prefecture	Okayama Prefecture
Government
- Mayor	Shigeo Takaya
Area
- Total	789.88 km2 (305 sq mi)
Population (March 2007)	698,948
Website	Okayama City
Phone number	086-803-1000
Address Okayama-shi,Daiku1-1-1 700-8544

Okayama (岡山市, Okayama-shi^?) is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.

The city was founded on June 1, 1889. As of March 2007, the city has an estimated population of 698,946 and the density of 884.87 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km². After the merger and part of the negotiation with the Okayama Prefecture, the city became a designated city on April 1, 2009.^[1]

Contents 1 Outline 2 History 2.1 Sengoku period to Tensho era 2.2 Edo period 2.3 Meiji Restoration to World War II 2.4 After World War II 2.4.1 Heisei Mergers 3 Geography 3.1 Climate 4 Economy 4.1 Agriculture 4.2 Industry 4.3 Commerce 5 Culture 5.1 Cuisine 5.2 Media 5.3 Sports 5.4 Education 6 Transportation 6.1 Railway 6.2 Tramway 6.3 Bus 6.4 Airport 7 Attractions 8 Others 9 Photo Gallery 10 Points of interest 11 Sister cities 12 Notables 13 References 14 External links

Outline

The city is known as the site of the Korakuen Garden and the black Okayama Castle, which was chosen the best 100 of Japanese castle. And the city is famous for the stage of Japanese fable called "Momotarō". Okayama University is located in the city, which founded as a medical school in 1870 and established in 1949 as a national university. The city is one of few Japanese cities to have kept an operational tram system. And the JR West Okayama Station is a major rail interchange as trains from Shikoku and San'in region connect with the Sanyō Shinkansen. And Okayama Airport also serves the city.

History

Sengoku period to Tensho era

Before the Muromachi period, Okayama was one corner of a farm area and there was a small castle build by the Kanemitsu. In the Sengoku period, Ukita Naoie attacked Okayama and robbed the castle. Because Naoie thought Okayama was a very convenient place due to its advantages of transportation and broad acres. After this, Naoie remodeled the castle, build the old Sanyo road to the central part of the castle town and called in tradesmen from inside and outside of Bizen province. Okayama became the political and economical capital of Bizen province.

Edo period

In 1600, Ukita Hideie, who was son of Naoie and the lord of Okayama, lost at the Battle of Sekigahara. The next year, Kobayakawa Hideaki came to Okayama and became the feudal lord of Okayama Domain. But Hideaki died in 1602 and ended the Kobayakawa line. So, Ikeda Tadatugu, who was the feudal lord of Himeji Domain, became the lord of Okayama. After this time, Okayama was ruled over by the Ikedas until the latter part of the 19th century. Continuting its economic development, Okayama became one of the 10 best large castle towns in Japan around in the 1700s. The Korakuen Garden was developed by the 4th feudal lord, Ikeda Tsunamasa.

Meiji Restoration to World War II

On August 29, 1871, the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan replaced the traditional feudal domain system and to introduced centralized government authority (Prefectures of Japan). Okayama became the capital of Okayama Prefecture. And then, 1889, Okayama city was founded. In the Meiji period, the railroad was built in Okayama city. After then, the railroad helped the development of the city. For example, the Sixth Higher Middle School (第六高等学校, Dairoku Kōtōgakkō^?)and Okayama Medical College (岡山医科大学, Okayama Ika-daigaku^?)　was established in Okayama city. Okayama became on of the most important places in western Japan for transportation and education. But World War II broke out in the 1940s. Okayama city had a Japanese Army base camp, and so, on June 29, 1945, the city was attacked by the US Army with incendiary bombs. Almost all the city was burned out and many people died. Okayama suffered terrible damage in the war.

After World War II

After the 1950s, Japan displayed drastic economical development. Okayama was also developed as one of the centre cities in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions.　In 1972, Sanyō Shinkansen was opened from Shin-Ōsaka Station to Okayama Station. Two years later, Shinkansen services started from Okayama Station to Hakata Station. Then in 1988, Seto-Ōhashi Line and Seto-chuō Highway was opened and connected Okayama with Shikoku directory by train and road. Okayama became a very important place for traffic. The city became a core city in 1996.

Heisei Mergers

• On March 22, 2005, the town of Mitsu, from Mitsu District, and the town of Nadasaki, from Kojima District, were merged into Okayama.
• On January 22, 2007, the town of Takebe, from Mitsu District, and the town of Seto, from Akaiwa District, were also merged Okayama. All three districts have since been dissolved.

Geography

The city of Okayama is located in the southern part of Okayama Prefecture, which in turn is located in western part of the island of Honshū. The city is bounded on the south by the Inland Sea.

The city Okayama became a designated city on April 1, 2009. Since then, the city has had wards (ku).

Emblem	Ward	Population	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)	Map
	Kita-ku	295,312	451.03	655
	Naka-ku	138,949	51.24	2,711
	Higashi-ku	96,718	160.28	603
	Minami-ku	165,193	127.36	1,297
Population as of October 1, 2005

Climate

Okayama has a mild climate in comparison to most of Japan. Okayama is ranked as the second driest as well as the fourth sunniest City in the Chūgoku region.^[2] Okayama's climate is classified as Humid Subtropical Cfa (Köppen Climate Classification)^{[3] [4]}

The local climate is warm enough throughout the year to locally support olive trees. Okayama is often called “The Sunny Country”, because of its light rain.^[5]

Economy

Agriculture

The city is located in the Okayama Plain. Farmers raise rice, grow eggplant and white Chinese chives^[6]. The northern part of the city is mountainous, and white peaches and grapes are cultivated.

Industry

Okayama is prosperous in industry as well as in agriculture. The amount of industrial products shipment is about 8,000 hundred million yen(in 2005)^[7]. This is almost 10% of that of Okayama Prefecture. The main types of industry are machine, chemistry, food and printing. Kōnan District, in the southern part of the city, is the most developed industrial zone in the city.

Commerce

Okayama is the core of the Okayama metropolitan area, which includes cities of Kurashiki and Sōja cities.

The main commercial district is Omotechō and the surroundings of the JR West Okayama Station. Omotechō is near Okayama Castle and the Korakuen Garden. It has shopping arcades and is always crowded.

Culture

Okayama has many sightseeing spots, for example, the Okayama Castle and the Korakuen Garden. Okayama Castle (nicknamed Ujō, meaning Cormorant Castle) was constructed in 1597, by Ukita Naoie, a Japanese feudal lord. Okayama Castle was burnt down in 1945 during World War II, but reconstructed in 1966. The castle is bounded on the north Korakuen Garden, which is called one of the best three gardens in Japan. The Korakuen Garden was developed by Ikeda Tsunamasa. It completed spending 14 years in 1700.

Nowadays, Okayama has a professional symphony orchestra, called Okayama Symphony Orchestra, which has mainly performed at the Okayama Symphony Hall.There are many museums in the city, like Okayama Prefectural Museum, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Hayashibara Museum of Art, Yumeji Art Museum and Okayama Digital Museum. And also, there are some libraries, like Okayama Prefectural Library.

Cuisine

Okayama has traditional food. For example, barazushi (ばらずし^?), one of rice salad. It contains fresh fish caught in Seto Inland Sea. Kibidango (吉備団子^?) is also famous. Kibidango is one of rice cakes made by powder of millet and rice.

Media

The Sanyo Shimbun and The Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun are the local newspaper serving Okayama. The former publishes both morning paper and evening editions, the later publishes evening edition only. There are five private television stations and NHK serving Okayama Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture. People who live in Okayama can watch the five large television networks of Japan. In addition, they can listen to three FM radio stations and three AM radio stations.

TV Stations

Channel ID	Name	Network	Established year	Call sign
1	NHK General TV Okayama	NHK General TV	1957	JOKK-(D)TV
2	NHK Educational TV Okayama	NHK Educational TV	1963	JOKB-(D)TV
4	Nishinippon Broadcasting Co.,Ltd.(RNC)	NNN	1958	JOKF-(D)TV
5	Setonaikai Broadcasting Co.,Ltd.(KSB)	ANN	1969	JOVH-(D)TV
6	Sanyo Broadcasting Co.,Ltd.(RSK)	JNN	1958	JOYR-(D)TV
7	TV Setouchi Broadcasting Co.,Ltd.(TSC)	TXN	1985	JOPH-(D)TV
8	Okayama Broadcasting Co.,Ltd.(OHK)	FNN	1969	JOOH-(D)TV

Radio Stations

Channel	Name	Network	Established year	Call sign
AM603kHz	NHK Radio Daiichi Okayama	NHK Radio Daiichi	1931	JOKK
AM1386kHz	NHK Radio Daini Okayama	NHK Radio Daini	1946	JOKB
AM1494kHz	Sanyo Broadcasting Co,Ltd.Radio (RSK)	JRN,NRN	1958	JOYR
FM88.7MHz	NHK FM Okayama	NHK FM	1964	JOKK-FM
FM76.8MHz	FM Okayama	JFN	1999	JOVV-FM
FM79.0MHz	Radio MOMO (Okayama City FM)	J-WAVE	1997	JOZZ8AD-FM

Sports

Okayama has a lot of sports teams, however, for a long time, there were no professional teams. But in recent years, volleyball team Okayama Seagulls and football club Fagiano Okayama were established. Fagiano Okayama FC gained promotion to the J. League, the highest football league in Japan, in 2009.

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Established
Fagiano Okayama FC	Football	J. League Division 2	Momotaro Stadium (Okayama Prefectural Multipurpose Athletic Stadium)	2004
Okayama Seagulls	Volleyball	V.League	Momotaro Arena (Okayama Prefectural Multipurpose Grounds Gym)	1999
Serio Standing Bears	American football	X-League	Momotaro Stadium (Okayama Prefectural Multipurpose Athletic Stadium)	?
Citylight Okayama Baseball Team	Baseball	Semi-professional baseball		2008

Education

Okayama University　is a national university, which was established in 1949, as part of a national restructuring of the education system. Today, Okayama University is one of big universities, which has 11 faculties and 6 graduate schools. The university consortium Okayama was started in 2006, work in cooperation with 16 universities, Okayama Prefectural Government and the Committee of companies.

There are 7 private universities, 3 junior colleges, 24 high schools (Public:16,Private:8), 7 six-year secondary education schools (Public:2,Private:5), 37 junior high schools (National:1,Civic:36) and 93 elementary schools (Civic:91,Private:2) in the city.

Universities

• Okayama University (National)
• Notre Dame Seishin University (Private)
• Okayama University of Science (Private)
• Okayama Shoka University (Private)
• Sanyo Gakuen University (Private)
• Shujitsu University (Private)
• Chugoku Gakuen University (Private)
• International Pacific University (Private)

Transportation

Railway

A lot of routes ride into Okayama by the junction of the railway traffic that connects Shinkansen with the San'in region and Shikoku. The JR West Okayama Station is one of terminal stations in Japan, offers Sanyō Shinkansen, Sanyō Main Line (including Hakubi Line and Akō Line), Uno Line (including Seto-Ōhashi Line), Tsuyama Line and Kibi Line.

Tramway

Okayama has tram system from Meiji period. The tram system is managed by Okayama Electric Tramway, and offers two lines, Higashiyama Main Line and Seikibashi Line, from Okayama Station. The fare is only 100yen or 140yen.

Bus

There are many bus services offered by 7 bus companies.

• Okayama Electric Tramway(Okaden bus) (岡電バス^?)
• Ryōbi bus (両備バス^?)
• Shimoden bus (下電バス^?)
• Chūtetsu bus (中鉄バス^?)
• Uno bus (宇野バス^?)
• Tōbi bus (東備バス^?)
• Bihoku bus (備北バス^?)

Airport

Okayama Airport, located northern part of the city, provides air service within Japan to Tokyo-Haneda, Sapporo-Chitose, Okinawa-Naha, and Kagoshima. International air service is provided to Seoul-Incheon, Guam, Beijing-Capital , Shanghai-Pudong, and Dalian. Commuter air service is also available at Kōnan Airport.

Attractions

• Sōgen-ji, famous temple for very large zen monastery belonging to the Rinzai sect, is located near the central part of the city. Sōgenji has produced several of the abbots of the major monasteries in Kyoto. Under the direction of Shodo Harada Roshi it is now a training center for foreign practitioners and allows women and lay people and as well as those participating on a part-time basis to as well as ordained men to participate.

Others

• Okayama is the hometown of Aeon Corporation, which is a private English language school with more than 3,000 employees.^[8]
• Masashi Kishimoto, famous for creating the anime/manga series Naruto, was born in Okayama. The town was also the inspiration for the village of Konoha, where most of the protagonists of Naruto live. Okayama was host to Naruto Shippūden Ninmu Tour: Kurashiki & Okayama (NARUTO -ナルト- 疾風伝忍務ツアー 岡山・倉敷の巻^?), a temporary Naruto-themed living museum. The attraction featured select areas modeled after various fictional locations from the Naruto universe, and was open from April 1 through September 30, 2007.^[9]

Photo Gallery

Okayama City proper in front of the train station

Okayama Airport

Hayashibara Museum of Art

Sōgenji

Points of interest

• Korakuen Garden
• Tokoen Garden
• Omizuen Garden
• Handayama Botanical Garden
• RSK Rose Garden
• Okayama Castle
• Okayama Prefectural Museum
• Okayama Orient Museum
• Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
• Hayashibara Museum of Art
• Yumeji Art Museum
• Ikeda Zoo
• Kibiji District Cycling Road
• ex-Ashimori Clan Samurai Residence
• Saijo Inari
• Kibitsu Shrine
• Kibitsuhiko Shrine
• Tsukuriyama Kofun
• Saidaiji Temple (Okayama)
• Sogenji Temple
• Okayama Symphony Hall
• Okayama University

Sister cities

• San Jose, California, United States (1957)
• San José, Costa Rica (1969)
• Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1972)
• Luoyang, China (1981)
• Bucheon, South Korea (2002)
• Hsinchu City, Taiwan (2003)

Notables

• Shin Koyamada, hollywood actor.
• Masashi Kishimoto, Mangaka.

References

External links

• Media related to Okayama at Wikimedia Commons
• Okayama official website
• Wikitravel: Okayama
• Okayama french blog
• Okayama 2006 Indian Blog

v • d • e Okayama Prefecture Okayama (capital city) Wards: Kita | Naka | Higashi | Minami Other cities Akaiwa | Asakuchi | Bizen | Ibara | Kasaoka | Kurashiki | Maniwa | Mimasaka | Niimi | Setouchi | Sōja | Takahashi | Tamano | Tsuyama Aida District Nishiawakura Asakuchi District Satoshō Kaga District Kibichūō Katsuta District Nagi | Shōō Kume District Kumenan | Misaki Maniwa District Shinjō Oda District Yakage Tomata District Kagamino Tsukubo District Hayashima Wake District Wake

v • d • e Metropolitan cities of Japan Tokyo Special wards of Tokyo (Adachi · Arakawa · Bunkyō · Chiyoda · Chūō · Edogawa · Itabashi · Katsushika · Kita · Kōtō · Meguro · Minato · Nakano · Nerima · Ōta · Setagaya · Shibuya · Shinagawa · Shinjuku · Suginami · Sumida · Toshima · Taitō) Designated cities Chiba · Fukuoka · Hamamatsu · Hiroshima · Kawasaki · Kitakyūshū · Kobe · Kyoto · Nagoya · Niigata · Okayama · Osaka · Saitama · Sakai · Sapporo · Sendai · Shizuoka · Yokohama Core cities Akita · Amagasaki · Aomori · Asahikawa · Fukuyama · Funabashi · Gifu · Hakodate · Higashiōsaka · Himeji · Iwaki · Kagoshima · Kanazawa · Kashiwa · Kawagoe · Kōchi · Kōriyama · Kumamoto · Kurashiki · Kurume · Maebashi · Matsuyama · Miyazaki · Morioka · Nagano · Nagasaki · Nara · Nishinomiya · Ōita · Okazaki · Ōtsu · Sagamihara · Shimonoseki · Takamatsu · Takatsuki · Toyama · Toyohashi · Toyota · Utsunomiya · Wakayama · Yokosuka Special cities Akashi · Atsugi · Chigasaki · Fuji · Fukui · Hachinohe · Hirakata · Hiratsuka · Ibaraki · Ichinomiya · Isesaki · Jōetsu · Kakogawa · Kasugai · Kasukabe · Kawaguchi · Kishiwada · Kōfu · Koshigaya · Kumagaya · Kure · Matsumoto · Mito · Nagaoka · Neyagawa · Numazu · Odawara · Ōta  · Sasebo  · Sōka  · Suita  · Takarazuka  · Takasaki  · Tokorozawa  · Tottori  · Toyonaka  · Tsukuba  · Yamagata  · Yamato  · Yao  · Yokkaichi Prefectural capitals (not included above) Fukushima · Tsu · Naha · Saga · Matsue · Tokushima · Yamaguchi