Okayama Castle, located in Kita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, was once an important fortress of Ono District in Bizen Province. Its black-lacquered exterior earned it the nickname “Crow Castle” or “Golden Crow Castle,” a striking contrast to neighboring Himeji Castle’s “White Heron Castle.” The castle site is now designated as a National Historic Site, bearing witness to the historical transitions from the Sengoku period to modern times.
The origins of Okayama Castle date back to the Sengoku period, when the Ukita clan, rising from eastern Bizen and extending their influence into Mimasaka and eastern Bitchū, chose this location as their base. The original fortress was built across several small hills, including Okayama (Shibaokayama), Ishiyama, and Tenjinyama. Ukita Naoie renovated Ishiyama Castle, and his son Ukita Hideie later constructed a new honmaru (main bailey) on the adjacent Okayama hill, incorporating Ishiyama Castle into the castle grounds—thus establishing the foundation of Okayama Castle. Subsequent lords, including the Kobayakawa and Ikeda clans, further developed and expanded the fortress into a robust early modern castle serving both defensive and administrative functions.
Okayama Castle is a hirayama-style (hilltop and flatland) castle with a stepped kuruwa (bailey) layout extending westward. Lacking natural defenses from the north to the east, the castle utilized a diverted course of the Asahi River as a natural moat for added protection. The tenshu (main keep) was a four-tier, six-story structure of the combined watchtower style with an irregular base, possibly influenced by Azuchi Castle or Osaka Castle. Edo-period maps indicate the fortress was surrounded by five concentric moats, with the castle town stretching approximately 3.5 km north-to-south and 1.3 km east-to-west.
During the Meiji period, most palace structures, turrets, and gates were demolished, leaving only the honmaru and Kōraku-en Garden largely intact. The tenshu was destroyed in an air raid during World War II, and postwar reconstruction saw the main keep, along with some gates and walls, rebuilt in reinforced concrete. The surviving Tsukimi-yagura and Nishinomaru Nishite-yagura are designated Important Cultural Properties, while the honmaru stone walls and inner moat remain preserved. Today, the castle site has been redeveloped into Ujō Park (“Crow Castle Park”), with the former sites of the second and third baileys occupied by modern facilities such as museums, broadcasting stations, and public institutions.
Adjacent to Okayama Castle lies Kōraku-en, one of Japan’s Three Great Gardens, alongside Kairakuen in Mito and Kenrokuen in Kanazawa, making the area a key tourist destination that blends history, culture, and natural beauty.
