is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

in the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428. History '' ...

of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km². The total area is . The city is the site of

Kōraku-en is a Japanese garden located in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. It is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, along with Kenroku-en and Kairaku-en. Korakuen was built in 1700 by Ikeda Tsunamasa, lord of Okayama. The garden reached its modern for ...

, known as one of the top three traditional gardens in Japan, and

Okayama Castle is a Japanese castle in the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture in Japan. The main tower was completed in 1597, destroyed in 1945 and replicated in concrete in 1966. Two of the watch towers survived the bombing of 1945 and are now listed by ...

, which is ranked among the best 100 Japanese castles. The city is famous as the setting of the Japanese

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

" Momotarō". Okayama joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.

History

Sengoku period to Teisho period

Okayama Castle, IMG 5839-5841 AutoAdaptive

Before the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, Okayama was one corner of a farm region and included a small castle built by the Kanemitsu. In the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Ukita Naoie was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. He was born in Bizen Province, to Ukita Okiie, a local samurai leader and head of the Ukita clan. Biography Naoie's grandfather Yoshiie was killed by Shimamura clan in 1534, Naoie narrowly es ...

attacked Okayama and attacked the castle for the transportation resources and extensive farmland in the region. Naoie remodeled the castle, built the old Sanyo road to the central part of the castle town, and called in craftsmen both from inside and outside of

Bizen Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bitchū and Bingo Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka, Harima, and Bitchū Provinces. Bizen ...

. Okayama became the political and economical capital of Bizen Province.

Edo period

In 1600,

Ukita Hideie was the ''daimyō'' of Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture), and one of the council of Five Elders appointed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Son of Ukita Naoie, he married Gōhime, a daughter of Maeda Toshiie. Having fought again ...

, who was the son of Naoie and the lord of Okayama, lost at the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

. The next year,

Kobayakawa Hideaki (1577 – December 1, 1602) was the fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was gained the rank of ''Saemon no Kami'' (左衛門督) or in China ''Shikkingo'' (執金吾) at genpuku and held the court title o ...

came to Okayama and became the feudal lord of

Okayama Domain The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Bizen Province in modern-day Okayama Prefecture.">DF_18_of_80">"Ikeda"_at_''Nobiliare_du_Japon'',_p._14_[PDF_18_of_80/nowiki>_retrieved_2013-4-25. # .html"_;"title="DF_18_of_8 ...

. Hideaki died in 1602, however, ending the Kobayakawa line. Ikeda Tadatugu, who was the feudal lord of Himeji Domain, became the next lord of Okayama. After this time, Okayama was ruled by the Ikedas until the latter part of the 19th century. Continuing its economic development, Okayama became one of the ten best large castle towns in Japan in the 18th century. The Korakuen Garden was developed by the fourth feudal lord,

Ikeda Tsunamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period. He was the head of the Okayama Domain.Edmond_Papinot.html" ;"title="DF_18_of_80/nowiki>_retrieved_2013-4-25. # .html"_;"title="DF_18_of_8 ....Edmond Papinot">Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ...

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 with centralized

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

authority (Prefectures of Japan). Okayama became the capital of Okayama Prefecture. In 1889, Okayama City was founded. In the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, a railroad was built in Okayama city that greatly enhanced the development of the city. For example, the and were established in Okayama City. Okayama became one of the most important places in western Japan for transportation and education. When World War II began, Okayama city had a

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

base camp. On June 29, 1945, the city was attacked by the

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

with

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

. Almost all the city was burned, and more than 1700 people were killed. Okayama suffered terrible damage in the war, losing more than 12,000 households.

Since World War II

During Japan's economic boom of the 1960s, Okayama developed rapidly as one of the most important cities in the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions. In 1972, the San'yō Shinkansen began service between and stations. Two years later, Shinkansen service was extended to . In 1988, the

Seto-Ōhashi Bridge The is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bri ...

was opened, and connected Okayama with Shikoku directly by rail and road. The city became a core city in 1996 and a

designated city A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegat ...

on April 1, 2009.

Geography

The Okayama city office is faced from the north

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 , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

. The city is bounded on the south by the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...

. Asahi River crosses Okayama. Since Okayama became a

in 2009, the city has been divided into four

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(''ku'').

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 merged into Okayama. Kojima, Mitsu, and Akaiwa Districts have all since been dissolved as a result of these mergers.

Climate

Okayama has a mild climate in comparison to most of Japan. It has the most rain-free days (less than 1mm of precipitation) of any city in Japan. It is ranked as the second driest and the fourth sunniest city in the Chūgoku region. The climate is classified under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

as humid subtropical (''Cfa''). The local climate is warm enough throughout the year to support

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

trees. Okayama is often called "Land of Sunshine" because of its low number of rainy days per year.

Economy

Agriculture

The city is located in the Okayama Plain, where rice, eggplant, and white Chinese chives are notable products. White peaches and grapes are cultivated in the mountainous, northern part of the city.

Industry

In 2005, the city's gross domestic product was 800 billion yen, nearly 10% of the GDP of

. Greater Okayama, Okayama Metropolitan Employment Area, has a GDP of US$63.1 billion as of 2010. The main industries are machine tools, chemicals, foodstuffs and printing. Kōnan, a district in the southern part of the city, is the most developed industrial zone.

Commerce

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

Sōja is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2020, the city has an estimated population of 69,343 and a population density of 322 persons per km2. The total area is 211.90 km2. History In the 7th century, Ki Castle was built atop ...

. The main commercial district is Omotechō, near

and

, and the area surrounding Okayama Station. Omotechō has many covered shopping arcades. The headquarters of Aeon Corporation, a private English language school with more than 3,000 employees, is located in Okayama.

Culture

and

are Okayama's most notable attractions. Okayama Castle (nicknamed ( 'crow castle') was constructed in 1597 by

, a Japanese feudal lord. It was destroyed by bombing in 1945 during World War II but reconstructed in 1966.

, known as one of the three best traditional gardens in Japan, lies south of the castle grounds. Kōrakuen was constructed by

over 14 years, and completed in 1700. Sōgen-ji, a large

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

belonging to the Rinzai sect, is located near the center of the city. Several of the abbots of major monasteries in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

are from Sōgen-ji.

Festivals

Every August since 1994 Okayama has seen the Momotarō Matsuri (Festival), which is an amalgam of three different festivals, including the 'ogre' festival, which is a kind of

Yosakoi Yosakoi () is a unique style of dance that originated in Japan and that is performed at festivals and events all over the country. The first Yosakoi festival was held in 1954 in Kōchi, Japan, on the island of Shikoku. Yosakoi-style dancing has ...

dance.

Music and the arts

Okayama has a professional symphony

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, the Okayama Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the

Okayama Symphony Hall is a concert hall in Okayama, Okayama, Japan. It opened in 1991 and seats 2,001. Yoshinobu Ashihara was the architect, with acoustical design by Nagata Acoustics. See also * Shoebox style (architecture) In architecture, shoebox style is a f ...

. There are many museums in the city, including the

Okayama Prefectural Museum is a museum in Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan. It was built to house important artifacts from the prefecture dating from prehistory through modern times. Notable exhibits The museum houses one National Treasure, red-laced '' yoroi'' armor from the 12th ...

, the

Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art The is located in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefecture. The museum, by architects Okada & Associates, opened in 1988 and has a collection of around two thousand works. See al ...

, the

Hayashibara Museum of Art The is an art museum owned by the Hayashibara Group, and located at 2-7-15 Marunouchi, Kita-ku, Okayama, the site of a former guesthouse beside the inner moat of Okayama Castle. Its 6,832 square meter interior was designed by Kunio Maekawa. ...

, the

Okayama Orient Museum is a museum of Ancient Near Eastern, Roman provincial, Byzantine, Sassanian, and Islamic Art in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2007 there were some 4,852 items, including winged Assyrian reliefs. The museum is a prize-winning design ...

, the Yumeji Art Museum, and the Okayama Digital Museum.

Cuisine

Okayama has several traditional dishes. Barazushi, a dish made with sushi rice, contains fresh fish from the Seto Inland Sea. Kibi dango (Okayama) () gel-like balls made from a powder of

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

and rice, are well known sweets from the area.

Media

The ''

Sanyo Shimbun The is a Japanese language daily newspaper published by . The company was founded in 1879. The newspaper is based in Okayama City, Japan. The newspaper covers national and international news stories and also news from Okayama and neighboring pr ...

'' is the local

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

serving the greater Okayama area. There are six television stations serving the Okayama area and part of

Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...

. Three FM and three AM radio stations also serve the region. ;TV Stations ;Radio Stations

Sports

Okayama has many sports teams. In recent years,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team

Okayama Seagulls is a women's volleyball team based in Okayama, Okayama, Okayama city, Okayama, Japan. It plays in V.League (Japan), V.League Division 1. The club was founded in 1999. Honours ;V.League (Japan), V.League/V.Premiere League *Champions (0): *Runn ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club

Fagiano Okayama is a Japanese football club based in Okayama, the capital of Okayama Prefecture. They play in the J2 League, the second tier of the country's football league system. Their home stadium is City Light Stadium, in Okayama City, though some home ma ...

have been established. In 2009, Fagiano Okayama FC gained promotion to the

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

, the highest football league in Japan. Okayama was the birthplace of the 31st Yokozuna, Tsunenohana Kan'ichi, in 1896. He won 10 championships, 8 during his time as a Yokozuna.

Education

Okayama University is a national university in Japan. The main campus is located in Tsushima-Naka, Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. The school was founded in 1870 and it was established as a university in 1949. History Okayama University was originally founded as t ...

, founded as a medical school in 1870 and established in 1949 as a national university, is in the city. Today, Okayama University is one of Okayama's largest universities, with 11 faculties and six graduate schools. There are seven private universities, three

junior colleges A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

, 24

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

(16 public, eight private), seven combined junior high/high schools (two public, five private), 37

junior high schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

(36 municipal, one national) and 93

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

(91 municipal, two private) in the city.

Universities

(national) *

Notre Dame Seishin University is a private university, private women's colleges, women's college in Okayama, Okayama, Japan, run by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The predecessor of the school, women's school, was founded in 1886, and it was chartered as a university in ...

(private) * Okayama University of Science (private) *

Okayama Shoka University is a private university in Tsushimakyomachi 2-10-1, Kita-Ku,Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, ...

(private) *

Sanyo Gakuen University is a private university in Okayama, Okayama, Japan. The predecessor of the school, Sanyo Eiwa Women's School, was founded in 1886, and was chartered as a junior college, Sanyo Gakuen College is a private junior college in Naka-ku, Okayam ...

(private) * Shujitsu University (private) *

Chugoku Gakuen University is a private university in Okayama, Okayama, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, ...

(private) *

International Pacific University is a private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public stu ...

(private)

High schools

*Okayama Joto Senior High School *Okayama Ichinomiya Senior High School *Okayama Asahi Senior High School *Okayama Sozan Senior High School *Okayama Hosen Senior High School *Okayama Gakugeikan High School

Transportation

Intercity rail

JR West's Okayama Station is a major interchange, with trains from Shikoku, Sanin and Sanyo connecting to the

Sanyo Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka, Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiari ...

. Local rail lines serving Okayama Station include:

Sanyo Main Line , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...

Hakubi Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in the mountainous area of the Chūgoku region of Japan. It begins at the south end of Okayama Prefecture at Kurashiki Station in Kurashiki, passing through Niimi Station on ...

, Akō Line, Uno Line,

Seto-Ōhashi Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) in Japan which links Okayama Station in Okayama Prefecture with Takamatsu Station in Kagawa Prefectu ...

Tsuyama Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting and in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Stations All-stations and limited-stop services called operate over the line. In the "Rapid" column in the table below, "O" ...

, and

Kibi Line is a railway line in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is also referred to as the . Stations All stations are in Okayama Prefecture. Rolling stock * KiHa 40 series diesel multiple units Fi ...

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

– San'yo Shinkansen * JR logo (west)

– San'yo Main Line * – – – – – – Okayama – – JR logo (west)

– Ako Line * – – Higashi-Okayama JR logo (west)

– Uno Line *Okayama – – – – – (Hayashima Town - Kurashiki City) – – – JR logo (west)

– Seto-Ohashi Line * JR logo (west)

– Tsuyama Line * Okayama – – – – – – – – JR logo (west)

– Kibi Line *Okayama – – – – – –

Tramway

Okayama has kept an operational

tram system A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

since the

. It is managed by Okayama Electric Tramway and offers two lines: the Higashiyama Main Line and the Seikibashi Line.

Bus

Seven bus companies provide service within the city limits: , , , , , , and .

Air

Okayama Airport is an airport in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is also known as Okayama Momotaro Airport. It is located northwest of central Okayama City and northwest or 30 minutes by bus from Okayama Station. It is about 10 minutes from the Okayama interc ...

, located in the northern part of the city, provides domestic service to Tokyo-Haneda, Sapporo-Chitose, Okinawa-Naha, and Kagoshima.

Kōnan Airport is a public aerodrome located about south of Okayama Station in Minami-ku, Okayama, Japan. History The airport opened on October 13, 1962, as Okayama Airport. It had scheduled service by All Nippon Airways (Tokyo Haneda) and Toa Domestic Airl ...

, located to the south, has been a general aviation airport since the opening of Okayama Airport in 1988.

Notable people

Before the fall of Edo

* Eisai (Buddhist priest, 1141–1215) *

Hideie Ukita was the ''daimyō'' of Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture), and one of the council of Five Elders appointed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Son of Ukita Naoie, he married Gōhime, a daughter of Maeda Toshiie. Having fought agai ...

(Military commander, 1573–1655) *

Kōan Ogata A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...

( Rangaku practitioner, 1810–1863)

Arts

Shigeru Nanba Shigeru Nanba (難波滋 Nanba Shigeru, born 1944) is a Japanese painter and artist. He is based in Okayama. Style His work consists of large oil paintings that depict traditional Japanese motifs such Bunraku puppets in a surreal fantasy world. Hi ...

(painter, 1944– ) *

Takashi Fukutani Takashi Fukutani (; February 4, 1952 – September 9, 2000) was a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series '' Dokudami Tenement''. Early life and career Fukutani was born in the Saidaiji area of Okayama and was rai ...

(manga artist, 1952–2000) *

Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, ''Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, vi ...

(manga artist, 1974– ) *

Seishi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for '' 666 Satan'', which was serialized in ''Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' from 2001 to 2007 and licensed by Viz Media in North America as ''O-Parts Hunter''. He has since completed four more manga ser ...

(manga artist, 1974– )

Politics

Ichirō Aisawa is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Mitsu District, Okayama and graduate of Keio University, he was elected to the House of Represe ...

(Member of the House of Representatives, 1954– ) * Kenji Eda (Member of the House of Representatives, Secretary General of

Your Party is a Japanese parliamentary caucus consisting of Yoshimi Watanabe and Takashi Tachibana, later Satoshi Hamada after Tachibana forfeited his seat, in the House of Councillors. It was also a political party led by Watanabe from 2009 until its d ...

, 1956– ) *

Satsuki Eda was a Japanese politician who was the first opposition member to serve as the President of the House of Councillors in Japan. Eda had served for three terms in the House of Councillors before his election as President on 7 August 2007, after the ...

(Member of the House of Councillors, 27th President of the House of Councillors, 1941– ) *

Seiji Hagiwara is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan, Diet (national legislature) representing the Second Dist ...

(31st, 32nd Mayor of Okayama, member of the House of Representatives, fourth Mayor of Mimasaka, Okayama, 1956– ) * Shigeo Takaya (33rd, 34th Mayor of Okayama, 1937– ) *

Tsuyoshi Inukai Inukai Tsuyoshi ( ja, 犬養毅, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. Inukai was Japan's second oldest prime minister while serving, as he ...

(Member of the House of Representatives, 29th

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

, 1855–1932) * Masahiro Ishii (5th Governor of Okayama Prefecture, Member of the House of Councillors, 1945– ) *

Yoshihiro Katayama was the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan from September 2010 through September 2011. He was the governor of Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is ...

(Governor of Tottori Prefecture,

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...

, 1951– ) *

Akihiko Kumashiro is a Japanese evangelical politician in Yeshua Ha-Mashiach (Jesus Christ) and former member of the Liberal Democratic Party who served four terms in the House of Representatives of Japan. He held the District 2 seat of Okayama Prefecture. He wa ...

(Member of the House of Representatives, 1940– ) *

Keisuke Tsumura is a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). A native of Tsuyama, Okayama, he attended the University of Tokyo and received an MBA f ...

(Member of the House of Representatives, 1971– ) *

Michiyoshi Yunoki is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kurashiki, Okayama and graduate of Okayama University is a national university in Japan. The mai ...

(Member of the House of Representatives, 1972– )

Literature

* Suiin Emi (novelist, 1869–1934) * Yōko Ogawa (novelist, 1962– ) *

Hyakken Uchida was a Japanese author and academic. Biography Uchida was born in Okayama to a family of sake brewers whose business later went bankrupt. His real name is Eizo Uchida (内田榮造 ''Uchida Eizō''). He became a pupil of Natsume Sōseki in ...

(novelist, 1889–1971) *

Junnosuke Yoshiyuki was a Japanese novelist and short-story writer, and a member of the so-called " Third Generation of Postwar Writers" (第3の新人). Life Yoshiyuki was born in Okayama, the oldest child of author Yoshiyuki Eisuke, but his family moved to Tok ...

(novelist, 1924–1994)

Entertainment

Angela Aki known professionally as , is a pop singer, songwriter and pianist. Biography Early life Aki was born in the small town of Itano in Tokushima Prefecture, in the mostly rural island of Shikoku. Her mother is Italian American and her father is ...

(singer-songwriter, 1977– ) (attended middle school in Okayama) *

Yōko Aramaki (born January 14, 1981) is a Japanese singer and impressionist connected to the K-Dash-associated office Peach. She is a graduate of Shujitsu High School. While she aimed to become a singer since childhood, she is also trained in piano and enka. ...

(impressionist and singer, 1981– ) *

Dorlis Dorlis (born February 23, 1982) is the stage name for a Japanese musician from Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. She started out in classical guitar, but at about age 17 became a street musician and dropped out of high school. In time, she became a jazz ...

(musician, 1982– ) * Satoshi Inoue (member of Jichō Kachō, 1976– ) * Yumbo Dump (comedy geniuses) * Hiroto Kōmoto (musician, 1963– ) *

Shin Koyamada is a Japanese Americans, Japanese-American actor, producer, entrepreneur, martial artist, and philanthropist. He is best known for his starring roles in ''The Last Samurai'' and the Disney's movie ''Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior'' on Disney+. He ...

(actor, 1982– ) *

Shinji Morisue is a Japanese gymnast and Olympic champion. He hails from Okayama City and attended the Nippon College of Physical Education (now called Nippon Sport Science University). Morisue is now a show business personality in Japan and is frequently seen ...

(former

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and TV personality, 1957– ) *

Matsunosuke Onoe , sometimes known as Medama no Matchan (''"Eyeballs" Matsu''), was a Japanese actor. His birth name is Tsuruzo Nakamura. He is sometimes credited as Yukio Koki, Tamijaku Onoe, or Tsunusaburo Onoe, and as a kabuki artist he went by the name Tsuru ...

(actor and film director, 1875–1926) * Kōji Satō (actor, 1963– ) * Etsuko Shihomi (actress, 1955– ) *

Yukiko Takaguchi is a Japanese voice actress. Her biggest role was in the anime '' The Wallflower'' where she voiced Sunako Nakahara. Other major roles include Soreto in ''Fantastic Children'', Setsuko Ohara in ''Super Robot Wars Z'', Vante in '' Queen's Blade: ...

(voice actor, 1974– ) * Tomu Uchida (film director, 1898–1970) * Riki Nishimura, (member of the K-pop boy group Enhypen, born 2005 ) * Misa (Bassist for

Band-Maid Band-Maid (stylized as BAND-MAID® until 2016) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2013, consisting of singer Saiki Atsumi, guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, lead guitarist Kanami Tōno, bassist Misa, and drummer Akane Hirose. The band combines a rock ...

- October 15) * Miku Nishizaki (member of

Ocha Norma is a Japanese idol girl group that formed in 2021. They released their debut single, "Koi no Crouching Start / Omatsuri Debut da ze!", on July 13, 2022. History On March 7, 2021, it was announced by Mizuki Fukumura is a Japanese singer, ...

- born 2006)

Sports

Noboru Akiyama was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, originally from Okayama, Okayama. He played with the Taiyo Whales. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It f ...

(professional baseball player and coach, 1934–2000) *

Yuko Arimori is a Japanese professional marathon runner and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Career Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano ...

(athlete, 1966– ) *

Naoko Hashimoto Naoko Hashimoto (橋本直子 ''Hashimoto Naoko'', born July 11, 1984) is a Japanese volleyball player who plays for Il Bisonte Firenze. Career Hashimoto debuted with the senior national team in 2013. Clubs * Hisamitsu Springs (2003-2009) * ...

(volleyball player, 1984– ) * Shigeaki Hattori (racing driver and team owner, 1963– ) * Kinue Hitomi (athlete, 1907–1931) * Masahiro Kawai (professional baseball player, 1964– ) *

Issei Morita is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder who played for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball'' ...

(professional baseball player, 1989– ) * Hikaru Sato (professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, 1980– ) *

Hinako Shibuno is a Japanese professional golfer who won the 2019 Women's British Open. Early years Shibuno was born in Okayama, Japan on 15 November 1998. Her father was a discus thrower and her mother was a javelin thrower. She is the middle child of the ...

(professional golfer, 1998- ) *

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of ...

(professional wrestler, 1969– ) *

Hisashi Tsuchida is a former Japanese football player. Club career Tsuchida was born in Okayama on February 1, 1967. After graduating from Osaka University of Economics, he joined Japan Soccer League club Mitsubishi Motors (later ''Urawa Reds'') in 1989. He play ...

(soccer player, 1967– )

Inventions

Seiichi Miyake was a Japanese engineer and inventor best known for his work on tactile paving (or "Tenji bricks", "Tactile bricks/blocks") to aid the visually impaired at traffic crossings. Miyake's system of tactile paving was first introduced at a school for ...

(inventor of

tactile paving Tactile paving (also called tenji blocks, truncated domes, detectable warnings, tactile tiles, tactile ground surface indicators, tactile walking surface indicators, or detectable warning surfaces) is a system of textured ground surface indicat ...

, 1926–1982)

Twin towns – sister cities

Okayama is twinned with: *

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, China (1981) *

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria (1972) *

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

, Costa Rica (1969) *

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States (1976) * San Jose,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States (1957) * Ninh Binh, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam (2018)

Friendships

Bucheon Bucheon () is a administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Bucheon is located away from Seoul, of which it is a satellite town, satellite city. It is located between Incheon and Seoul. Bucheon is the second ...

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

, South Korea (2002) * Hsinchu, Taiwan (2003) *

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India (2014)

Points of interest

Korakuen Garden In Japanese, the term kōraku in Kōrakuen (後楽園, "Kōraku Park") refers to later pleasures. It comes from a yojijukugo which means "hardship now, pleasure lat" It is derived from a poem by Fan Zhongyan. Places named Korakuen include: *Kōrak ...

Handayama Botanical Garden The is a botanical garden located at 2-1319 Kitagata, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan. It is open daily except Tuesdays; an admission fee is charged. The garden was founded in 1953 on a hillside site overlooking the city by the Okayama Waterworks. It wa ...

Yumeji Art Museum is an art museum in Okayama Prefecture split between the main museum in Naka-ku, Okayama and the Yumeji Seika and Shonen Sanso annex built in Setouchi, the birthplace of Yumeji Takehisa, a poet and artist who was active in the early 1900s. Bui ...

* Kibitsu Shrine *

Kibitsuhiko Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Ichinomiya neighborhood of the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Bizen Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on the third weekend of October. Theshrin ...

References

External links

Okayama City official website

I Love Okayama - Okayama global brand
* {{Authority control Cities in Okayama Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan