Okayama: Local Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines & Temples, Sightseeing | Japan 47 Prefecture Guide
Okayama calls itself the land of sunshine. Having little rain is what made it fruit country.
Local Specialties
White peaches, and Muscat of Alexandria.
White peaches are grown in bags, kept away from the sun. That is why the skin is pale and the flesh is white too. Taking trouble in order to remove colour, the opposite of what is done with most fruit. Muscat is grown under glass, and in some methods a vine is allowed only a single bunch.
Chiya beef, bara-zushi, and Jersey dairy from Hiruzen.
Souvenirs
Kibi dango is a souvenir that spread by attaching itself to the Momotaro tale. The myth of subduing Ura in the land of Kibi is held to be the original of that story.
White peach jelly, blue-glazed pottery, and a Bizen ware glass.
Sacred Sites | Shrines & Temples
Kibitsu Jinja holds National Treasures. 27 shrines and temples worth knowing in Okayama.
Kibitsu Jinja(Okayama)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Bitchu Province / National Treasure / Bizen / Blessings: warding off misfortune, long life
Its main hall and worship hall are National Treasures. What makes it famous is the corridor, about 360 metres of it, running along the ridge. A roofed walkway that undulates downhill with the lie of the land. That is architecture fitted to a site, not a design meant to be looked at.
Kibitsuhiko Jinja(Okayama)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Bizen Province / Bizen / Blessings: warding off misfortune, good fortune
It carries the legend of the subduing of Ura. That myth is held to be the original of the Momotaro tale.
Saijo Inari(Okayama)Buddhist temple / Counted among the Three Great Inari Shrines / Bizen / Blessings: business prosperity, wealth
Even after the separation of Shinto and Buddhism it did not become a shrine, but kept enshrining Inari as a temple: a rare case. Its formal name is Myokyoji.
Bicchu Kokubunji(Soja)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Historic Site / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its five-storey pagoda stands in the farmland of the Kibiji. One of the defining views of Okayama.
Yuga Jinja Hongu(Kurashiki)Shinto shrine / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune, good fortune
In the Edo period it became customary to pair a visit here with one to Kotohiragu in Sanuki. It claims to be the head temple for warding off misfortune.
Sogenji(Okayama)Buddhist temple / Place of Scenic Beauty / Bizen / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The funerary temple of the Ikeda, lords of the Okayama domain. It is also known as a Zen hall that takes in practitioners from abroad.
Kairo(Okayama)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Bizen / Blessings: warding off misfortune
About 400 metres in all, running in waves along the contours of the ground.
Bitchu Kokubunji(Soja)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A five-storey pagoda standing in farmland. The emblem of the Kibiji.
Achi Jinja(Kurashiki)Shinto shrine / Bitchu / Blessings: safe voyages, business prosperity
It stands on Tsurugatayama, looking down on the Kurashiki Bikan district. A shrine tied to immigrants from the continent.
Hofukuji(Soja)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Bitchu / Blessings: study and exams
The temple where the boy Sesshu, tied to a pillar, is said to have drawn a mouse with his tears.
Nakayama Jinja(Tsuyama)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Mimasaka Province / Important Cultural Property / Mimasaka / Blessings: good harvests
First shrine of Mimasaka Province, with a main hall in its own nakayama-zukuri style.
Achi no Fuji(Kurashiki)Shinto shrine / Natural Monument / Bitchu / Blessings: long life
An akebono wisteria over 300 years old. A prefectural Natural Monument.
Rendaiji(Kurashiki)Buddhist temple / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The temple on Yugasan, known for warding off misfortune. Pairing it with Sanuki Kotohiragu was popular in the Edo period.
Ryofukuji(Okayama)Buddhist temple / Bizen / Blessings: warding off misfortune
An old temple in the city of Okayama.
Ojigadake(Tamano)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Bizen / Blessings: mountain worship
A granite peak looking out over the Inland Sea. It was a place of shugendo practice.
Karako Odori(Setouchi)Shinto shrine / Bizen / Blessings: the performing arts
A dance said to derive from the Korean envoys is dedicated at the Ekijin shrine.
Kumayama Iseki(Akaiwa)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Historic Site / Bizen / Blessings: mountain worship
A three-tiered stone structure. Called a pagoda by some and an altar by others, its purpose is still unsettled.
Tokumori Jinja(Tsuyama)Shinto shrine / Mimasaka / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The tutelary shrine of the Tsuyama castle town. Its portable shrine is one of the three great mikoshi of Japan.
Hongenji(Tsuyama)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Mimasaka / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The funerary temple of Mori Tadamasa. Its main hall and mausoleum are Important Cultural Properties.
Nakayama Jinja(Tsuyama)Shinto shrine / Mimasaka / Blessings: good harvests
A tale of subduing a monkey deity survives in the Konjaku Monogatari. It is also a guardian of cattle and horses.
Raikyuji(Takahashi)Buddhist temple / Place of Scenic Beauty / Bitchu / Blessings: study and exams
Its dry landscape garden by Kobori Enshu is a Place of Scenic Beauty. Great clipped masses of satsuki azalea stand for waves.
Hattoji(Bizen)Buddhist temple / Bizen / Blessings: mountain worship
It once held eighty lodgings. Today a village of thatched houses remains.
Wakasugi(Nishiawakura)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Mimasaka / Blessings: mountain worship
A beech forest at the foot of Mount Hyono. The faith in the headwaters survives here.
Yuga Jinja(Kurashiki)Shinto shrine / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It claims to be one of the three great gongen of Japan. A great torii of Bizen ware stands here.
Bitchu Sojagu(Soja)Shinto shrine / Bitchu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It enshrines the 324 shrines of Bitchu Province together. The origin of the place name Soja.
Goryu Sonryuin(Kurashiki)Buddhist temple / Bitchu / Blessings: mountain worship
One of the head temples of shugendo. A three-storey pagoda stands here.
Konoshima(Kasaoka)Buddhist temple / Bitchu / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
A miniature pilgrimage circuit that goes round the island.
Sightseeing
Shizutani Gakko holds National Treasures. Breakdown: castle 3, historic townscape 4, nature / scenery 2, industrial heritage 1. 18 places to see in Okayama.
Osafune(Setouchi)historic townscape / Bizen
A great centre of Japanese swordmaking. It produced many National Treasure and Important Cultural Property blades.
Fukiya(Takahashi)historic townscape / Bitchu / Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings / Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
A village that grew rich on bengara red pigment. The whole town is red.
Kinojo(Soja)castle / Bitchu / Historic Site / 7th century
An ancient mountain fortress. Held to be the stronghold of Ura, the model for the ogre in the Momotaro tale.
Korakuen(Okayama)garden / park / Bizen / Special Place of Scenic Beauty / 1700
One of the three great gardens of Japan. The lord named it for taking his pleasure after his people.
Bikanchiku(Kurashiki)historic townscape / Bitchu / Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings / Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
Goods gathered here as a territory ruled directly by the shogunate. White-walled storehouses line the canal.
Narukama Shinji(Okayama)other / Bizen
Fortune is read from the sound of a ringing cauldron. It became the subject of a tale in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari.
Okayama-jo(Okayama)castle / Bizen / Historic Site / 1597
The black weatherboarding gives it the name Crow Castle. It pairs with Korakuen across the river.
Eyo(Okayama)festival / event / Bizen / Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property / 1510
Thousands of naked men contend for the sacred wands. One of the three strange festivals of Japan.
Shizutani Gakko(Bizen)museum / theatre / Bizen / National Treasure / Historic Site / 1670
Among the oldest public schools for commoners anywhere in the world. Its lecture hall is a National Treasure.
Bitchu Matsuyama-jo(Takahashi)castle / Bitchu / Important Cultural Property / 1683
A surviving keep, standing higher than any other in Japan. It floats on a sea of cloud.
Korakuen(Okayama)garden / park / Bizen / Special Place of Scenic Beauty / 1700
One of the three great gardens of Japan. The lord named it for taking his pleasure after his people.
Kurashiki Bikan(Kurashiki)historic townscape / Bitchu / Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
White-walled storehouses of a shogunal territory. The Ohara Museum stands on the same street.
Ohara Museum(Kurashiki)museum / theatre / Bitchu / 1930
The first museum of Western art in Japan. It holds El Greco's Annunciation.
Washuzan(Kurashiki)nature / scenery / Bitchu / Place of Scenic Beauty
The birthplace of the Inland Sea National Park. Scattered islands, and a very long bridge.
Bizen Ware(Bizen)industrial heritage / Bizen
One of the six ancient kilns of Japan. No glaze: the colour comes from clay and flame alone.
Hiruzen(Maniwa)nature / scenery / Mimasaka
Pasture for Jersey cattle. Part of the Daisen-Oki National Park.
Kibiji(Soja and nearby)burial mound / archaeological site / Bitchu / Historic Site
The Tsukuriyama mound is the fourth largest in Japan. A five-storey pagoda stands in the fields.
Saidaiji Eyo(Okayama)festival / event / Bizen / Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property / 1510
Thousands of naked men contend for the sacred wands. One of the three strange festivals of Japan.
Traditional Crafts
Three crafts hold national designation: Bizen ware, Katsuyama bamboo work, and Bitchu washi.
Bizen ware uses no glaze, and nothing is painted on it. The colour is settled by clay, fire and wood ash alone. No two pieces are ever the same. One of the six ancient kilns of Japan.
More: VILLAGE Journal vol.15 — Choosing neither glaze nor brush（リンク先は現在公開されていません）
More from This Prefecture
See all Okayama articles ← All 47 prefectures
Sources: Okayama Prefecture, City of Okayama, City of Kurashiki, City of Bizen, City of Soja, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village editorial team