^{It’s not often you arrive at a railway station in Japan and be swept up in all the fun of Halloween. That’s what greeted us in Okayama this year when we arrived from Tokyo after a four hour train Kodama shinkansen trip (3 hrs if you travel on the faster Nozomi shinkansen). And the joviality of an Okayama Halloween was a great start to our visit to this interesting little city!}

^{There were ‘police’ roaming the station – young people in cheeky police costumes, not quite matching the real thing. Plenty of other fun Halloween outfits too. Friendly real police were on hand, setting up cordoned areas outside the front of the station for the night’s celebrations.}

^{Okayama city – the capital of Okayama prefecture – should not be confused with the JAPANESE island of Okinawa. Just over 200 kilometres south of Kyoto, it is a charming place with a youthful vibe and a real Arts feel.}

^{One of our favourite strolls was along city’s Nishigawa Canal Park, a 2.4 kilometre long green belt lined with artworks along the Nishikawa Canal and its tributary Edagawa Canal, that flow north and south through the center of Okayama City. Plenty of benches and places to sit along the way, fountains and water terraces, as well as recreational facilities. It’s very popular as a walking path, and at various times of the year it features special seasonal activities.}

^{Okayama is famous particularly for its Korakuen garden, developed more than 300 years ago by Tsunamasa Ikeda, the second Lord of the Okayama domain.}

^{Japan has designated the garden as a ‘Special Place of Scenic Beauty’ historically and culturally, and the Michelin Green Guide on Japanese gardens gives it a three-star rating. So I was expecting something special, and it delivered.}

^{It’s also said to be one of the three best gardens in Japan. I’ve seen one of the others – Kenrokuen in Kanazawa – and for my taste, Korakuen is the better of the two. Maybe it’s the Aussie in me. It does have a lot of lawn, and we Australians love our lawns! Hopefully, they have good ride on mowers!}

^{Being so well known, I imagine Korakuen can be quite crowded on weekends and public holidays, but we were there on a weekday afternoon with plenty of room to stroll freely.}

^{Both the gardens and the castle are only about a half hour walk from the railway station. But knowing we’ be dong a fair bit of walking at the gardens, we hopped on one of Okayama’s cute trams that shuttle along the main avenue leading directly up from the front of the railway station.}

^{When I say cute, I mean super cute! Some of the trams are themed. My favourite was designed around popular British television show Chuggington, aimed at preschool children. The trains have two cars – in the front is red for Wilson, and the back blue for Brewster. I wasn’t really sure if old adults like me, without a grandchild in tow, could ride the Chuggington. So I watched it pass by with envy!}

^{The trams in Okinawa are very inexpensive – I recall our ride to Korakeun was less than two dollars Australian each.}

^{The beautiful Korakeun garden was extensively damaged during a typhoon in the 1930’s and again in American air raids in WW2. But thanks to detailed drawings done in the Edo period and excellent records kept by gardeners, it has been largely been returned much as it was originally – apart from some simplified pathways and public facilities.}

^{Overlooking the garden, but separated by a river is Okayama’s castle. It’s not the original, but is still worthwhile visiting. Built in 1597, its main keep was destroyed by fire during American bombings. It was rebuilt in 1966, and today houses a small museum and castle shop. Special events for the public are regularly held at the castle, so it’s worthwhile checking to see what’s on if you are in Okayama.}

^{If you really want ‘original, there’s still plenty to be seen in the castle grounds – such as a massive stone wall was built in 1597, using unprocessed natural stones. Its west side is buried nearly 3 meters underground. Originally, the wall was 15.6 meters high – one of the tallest stone walls in Japan leading up to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.}

^{There’s also an impressive original turret building constructed in the 1620s to help protect the castle. It’s a design masterpiece – appearing to be two storied – but from the adjoining castle, it’s three! Secret Samurai stuff!}

^{An unusual feature of the castle grounds is that it includes a Bizen-yaki Pottery Studio where you can undertake classes. The Okayama region is famous for its BIZEN pottery which traces its roots back to the Kufon period from around 300 to 538 AD. So, this is the place to try your hand at it.}

^{The gardens and castle are a short walk apart, linked by a pedestrian bridge that spans the Asahi river. You can hire little pedal boats near the pedestrian bridge if you want to get onto the water.}

^{Okayama city has plenty more to offer visitors. It is also a great base for exploring other places in the prefecture.}

^{On one of our days there, we took a short local train ride to the nearby canal town of Kurushika, where we had arranged a volunteer guide to show us around this picture postcard town. More on that in a future blog.}

^{Okayama is also only a 45 minute train ride from Hiroshima – one of the day trip plans that we unfortunately had to call off when the tail end of a typhoon brought torrential rain across much of Japan south of Tokyo, and major train cancellations. It was a long weekend holiday, and the station was packed with people trying to sort their travel plans.}

^{We took refuge in a great little station coffee shop to discuss our alternatives for the day. Always have a plan B and C in your travel itinerary for the unexpected! We decided to stay put and explore the city more – in the rain, that generally meant checking out more of its restaurants, cafes, museums, Okayama’s cakes and its very cool nightlife scene, featuring some excellent locally brewed beers!}

^{One cafe that caught our eye just up from the station was CBD GREEN, a welcoming vegetarian place. I’m not a vegetarian, but the aroma from its fabulous mushroom pizzas drew us in. They serve delicious pickles too, and extremely good deserts! The Okayama tourist bureau has put out a list of its recommended nine best cafes and restaurants in the city. I emailed them to include CBD GREEN for visitors, and they replied I’d found a great place. Sure did.}

^{The tourist centre has an office inside the railway station, with english speaking staff who we found very helpful. Their facebook is full of great ideas of what to do in the prefecture.}

^{We only had three nights in Okayama, and it wasn’t enough as there is so much to see. I feel I barely scratched the surface. So a return stay is planned for 2025!}

https://www.facebook.com/okayama.eng/

^{PS: OKAYAMA was another place I saw very few other western tourists!}