Okayama Castle — Attraction in Okayama

Worth visiting if you're in town, though it is not good enough ( for foreign tourists at least ) to visit town just for this.

Unlike Himeji or Matsumoto which have largely left their interiors unmodified ( bar the museum in Matsumoto on one of the floors ) , Okayama has instead built a museum inside the husk of a castle. That brings several benefits and negatives.

It is less grand and beautiful than either of the other two castles mentioned , but it has several PROS : it is air conditioned throughout the entire building, so it is bearable in summer and winter; it has many exhibits that would be educational and fun for both Japanese kids and adults; there plenty to read and interact with about the region's and the castle history; it is very easy to go around the castle as it has modern stairways and even an elevator ! For contrast , both of the other castles had more authentic stairs, which made it a little slow and tedious to get around.

The CONS: it is not an authentic castle experience that illustrates what a castle looked like or how it functioned ( bar some pictures or demonstrations made for kids ). It has instead used the castle itself as a prop. Also, it is unkind to foreigners in its design , as it is mainly in Japanese, with the title of some exhibits translated to English. Sometimes there's a QR code where you can read in English, Korean or Chinese, though that is very annoying to do manually dozens of times. It would be far better to have full descriptions in at least english as well, and the other two languages where feasible , OR, have a multilingual audio guide that you can use while you walk through the building.

The exterior of the castle is all free and has some nice photo spots. Entrance to the main part of the castle was quite cheap at ¥400.

It's quite disappointing that they've clearly poured money into the reconstruction and maintenance of the castle , but failed on delivering the right experience.

If I were fluent in reading and writing Japanese, this would probably get a 4 star rating, however it is poorly equipped to provide for...

Beautiful castle but it's basically a very beautiful museum. When you are inside you could be anywhere (except on the top floor where there are good views of the surrounding area.)

If you want to see the inside of a real feudal-era Japanese castle, this is categorically not that, and you will be disappointed.

If you want an excellent museum that tells the story of the Sengoku period through the "eyes" of the important families that ruled Okayama Castle before and after the battle of Sekigahara, this is definitely for you.

The presentation is fantastic and the interactive sections made my wife and I feel like excited children! The free "dressing up" is especially fun. The lady who facilitated the dressing up was lovely and friendly, special thanks to her :)

The exhibits are NOT in English and using the virtual guide on your phone is essential if you want to learn anything. But that works very well, as long as you have an internet connection, which was a little patchy (I was using the Okayama free WiFi.)

Overall an excellent and very modern museum with a beautiful exterior in a lovely and atmospheric location. Very well worth a visit to anybody in the area interested in Japanese feudal era...

(Trip was made back then on 14 Nov 2022)

We were off to a good start approaching Okayama castle via the side trail where we were greeted by the warm orange and yellow hues of the autumn colours.

In spite of approaching the castle from its rear, it still looked magnificent with its sleek black exterior accented by gold highlighted tiles. It’s no surprise that it was given the nickname “crow castle”.

Unfortunately there was a lack of autumn colours upon entering the castle front’s garden as a substantial portion of the maple leaves were still green. It was disappointing as the vibrant autumn colours would have contrasted beautifully with the dark elegance of the castle.

Similarly, the view of Korakuen across the castle was another unfortunate prelude where we had to manage our expectations when we visited the garden later.

The renovated castle had modern interiors and amenities (e.g. baggage coin lockers and lifts) with informative exhibits detailing the rich history of the castle.

Notwithstanding the lack of autumn colours, it was still a relatively...