AnnualJanuary 1–3: New Year Celebration
Early February: Grass Burning
Late February: Komo Straw Belts Bonfire

March 2: Garden Opening Anniversary
1st Sunday of April: Goshinkō Festival
Late April: Yōsai Tea Ceremony
3rd Sunday of May: Tea Picking Festival
Late May: En’yō-tei House Special Opening

Korakuen, one of the Three Great Gardensof Japan, is a cultural heritage site for theworld to treasure.

2nd Sunday of June: Rice Planting Festival
1st Sunday of July: Lotus Viewing Festival
August 1–31: “Summer Fantasy Garden”
Night Opening and Illumination EventIn 1687,(Japanese feudal lord) Ikeda Tsunamasa ordered tohis retainer Tsuda Nagatada to begin the construction of a newgarden. It was completed in 1700, and has kept its originalSpecial Place of Scenic Beauty

appearance down to the present day, except for a few changes by

15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calendar:
Harvest Moon Viewing Ceremony
Late October: Komo Straw Belts Wrapping
Late October: En’yō-tei House Special Opening
Late October – Mid-November: Okayama
Prefecture Chrysanthemum Convention
November 3, Culture Day: Korakunō (NōTheater performances)
Mid-November – Late November: “AutumnFantasy Garden” Night Opening andIllumination Eventvariouss. Korakuen is one of the few

gardens in theprovince where historical change can be observed, thanks to themany Edo Period (1603-1868) illustrations and plans and Ikeda

The garden was originally called Kōen (“backgarden")becauseitwasbuilt

behindOkayama Castle. However, since the garden
was built in the spirit of “sen-yū-kō-raku"(literally, “grieve earlier than others, enjoy
later than others"), the name was laterchanged to Korakuen in 1871.

Clan's records and documents left behind. The garden was used asa place for entertaining important guests and also as a spa of sorts
for thes, although common people too could visit it oncertain days. In 1884, the ownership was transferred to Okayama
Prefecture and the garden was opened to the general public. Thegarden suﬀered severe damage during a ﬂood in 1934 and during
WW2 bombing in 1945, but has been restored based on Edo Period

March 20〜September 30: 7:30am〜6:00pm
October 1〜March 19: 8:00am〜5:00pm●Entrance allowed until 15 minutes before closing

drawings and documents. In 1952, Korakuen Garden was designatedas a Special Scenic Location (now Special Place of Scenic Beauty)

Adults (15〜64 not including junior high school students) ¥500
Children (elementary and junior high school students) ¥200
Senior (65〜) ¥200
Groups (min. 20 people) 20% discountShujitsu University
Nishigawara Station(20 min. by foot)(Approx. 1.5 km)

Prefectural Tenjinyama
Culture PlazaP

Korakuen & Okayama Prefectural Museum Adults ¥600
Korakuen & Okayama Castle Adults ¥720
Korakuen, Okayama Castle and Hayashibara Museum of Art
Adults ¥1,120
Combination tickets are not available on days when the museum(s)is(are) closed or during special exhibits including the installation period.

Adults ¥2,000Children ¥800

Senior (65〜) ¥800

● 20 min. by car from Okayama IC (Approx. 8km)
● 25 min. by foot from JR Okayama Station (Approx. 1.8km)- 4 min. by Higashiyama-bound local trains
and 10 min. by foot from Shiroshita Station- Next to Korakuen-mae stop, 15 min. by Okaden Bus
bound for Fujiwara Danchi stop.
Renaiss Hall

ParkingStandard-sized car ¥100/40minutes
Bus ¥1,000/once a days（+）

Kita-ku,（Japanese only）

Issued in July, 2024.

under the Cultural Properties Protection Law, and is managed as ahistorical cultural asset to be passed to future generations.

★★★

Okayama
Korakuen awarded
three stars byMichelin GreenGuide Japan

Okayama Korakuen has been considered one of the most famous gardens inbuilt for each succeeding(Japanese feudal lord), as were En'yō-tei House, theNō Theater Stage, and other buildings. The garden was designed in the("scenic promenade") style, which presents the visitor with a new view at every turnof the many paths connecting the vast lawns, ponds, hills, tea houses and streams.
Rest House.

South Gate.

TempleGrove
To the east is Kayō-no-taki Falls, while on the southwestbank is found Ōdateishi Rock, which was cut into over 90
pieces, brought to Korakuen, and rebuilt in the Genroku Era(1688-1704). Ittenshikai Lotus can be seen in its full glory
between June and August here.

Rest House

Ryūten Rest House
Stones of beautiful colors are placed in the stream
ﬂowing through the center of the building - a uniquedesign in Japan. It has a simple appearance and wasused as a resting place bys (Japanese feudallords) during their strolls in the garden.

Irises are planted all along the bridge, after thechapter in, an ancient collection ofJapanese poems.

Rest HouseŌdateishi RockIt is said that this was Lord Ikeda Tsunamasa's favorite of all thebuildings in the garden. It has a magniﬁcent view on thepond.

Eishō-no-ma Room

TempleA tree of the elm family called muku ,which is believed to date back to thetime when the garden was originallybuilt, stands next to the small building.

'Yuishinzan Hill

Eishō-bashi Bridge

A manmade hill, approximately 6 m high, built by Lord Ikeda
Tsugumasa, son of Tsunamasa, oﬀers a panoramic view of theentire garden. The hill itself becomes spectacular when azaleas
are in bloom.

Nō Theater Stage
BridgeTaxi standOriginally designed with mountain cherry trees and other blossoming trees incorporated into the view around the pond.
Many(traditional Japanese poetry) have been passed
down through time portraying how the waterfall reﬂects thebeauty of the ﬂowers. The stream running across the garden
meets this pond and then ﬂows into the Asahi River.

Kansha-tei
Rest House

Remains of a landing dock for boats
that carried feudal lords from the castle.
Stone steps leading to the gate ofhonor have been unearthed and are nowon display.

Horseback Riding Groundand Archery Range

Tea House'Used as a place to receives (Japanese feudal lords)
when they visited Korakuen, this house is the central
structure in the garden, oﬀering a broad vista of Sawa-no-ike
Pond, Yuishinzan Hill, and Mount Misao in the background.

Nō Theater
Lord Ikeda Tsunamasa was not only an enthusiastic devoteeof Nō, but himself also an accomplished performer,known for the extensive collection of priceless Nō costumes he left behind. Townspeople were sometimes allowed
to visit this stage. The present structure is a post-WW2 restoration.

Grove
Although originally designed as a thicket of mountain cherry
blossom trees that would bloom in spring, and maple trees
whose leaves would turn red in autumn, Japanese cypress
trees took their place after the war. Wild birds visit this placein large numbers - quite rare for a metropolitan location.

→→

Parking entranceRest House

Tea House
This building was originally called Rikyū-dō, one part of avilla belonging to a high-ranking vassal towards the endof the Edo Period, and was taken apart and rebuilt herearound 1887. Restored after the war, it was re-entitled toYōsai, the Okayama-born priest said to have brought tea toJapan from China, from which the building gets the name
Chaso-dō: "house of the forefather of tea."Bus

East gate (temporary gate)

Plum

In late winter, ahead of the other ﬂowers, about
100 red and white, single and double-ﬂoweredplum trees blossom and ﬁll the garden with theirelegant fragrance.

In the past, water running in the nearby Korakuen irrigation channel extending fromapproximately 4 km up the Asahi River to the other side of the river, was siphoned intothe garden. Nowadays ground water is pumped up to the surface, skillfully designed
and created to ﬂow into ponds and waterfalls for a beautiful eﬀect.

Pine

Cherry Blossom Grove
Kansui-saikyō-ken Rest Housejaya Rest House

Seiden FieldsTemple

The nearly 100 maple trees are beautiful in spring, when theirleaves are green, and in autumn, when their vivid tapestry ofauburn hues is like a Japanese brocade. This is one of the most
famous scenic spots in the garden.

Plantationon.

rating native Japanese lawns only in the space between
En'yō-tei House and the west bank of Sawa-no-ike Pond,
while the rest of the garden was used as arable land.
Grass was extended to the rest of the garden since theMeiji Period (1868-1912).
■Total area: 144,000 m2■Grassy area: 19,600 m2

approx. 6 m
approx. 640 m

These six rice paddies are here to remind us of older times
when rice cultivation was spread throughout the garden.
They were made at the end of the Edo Period and modeled
after the Zhou Dynasty system for taxing rice paddies. Next
to them, the two ﬁelds of Ōga Lotus, which returned to life
after 2000 years, are in bloom in June and July. Finally, theninth ﬁeld houses peony ﬂowers.

TempleThis is a temple dedicated to Kan'non (Buddhist Goddess ofMercy), built by Lord Ikeda Tsunamasa with the goal of bringing
peace to the clan and stability to the domain. Although the temple
is no longer in use, the successive lords of the clan were devoted
to its worship until the end of the Edo Period.

Car ParkRestroom

Public Telephone

Taxi Stand

Restaurant

Coin-operated Locker

Bus Stop

Shop

Multipurpose Restroom

Crane Aviary

Horseback Riding Ground andThe largest pond in the garden, Sawa-no-ike contains the threeislands Naka-no-shima, Mi-no-shima with the beautiful ﬁshingpavilion, and Jari-jima, with its beautiful white sand and green
pine trees.

Korakuen was built not only as a place for feudal lords toenjoy the scenery, but also as a training ground for practicing
both the literary and military arts. Events for vassals todisplay their skills in military art were also held, which thelords used to observe from Kanki-tei or Kansha-tei rest houses.

Cranes have been kept in the garden since the Edo Period, butthey died out after the Second World War. Later on, Guō Mòruò,Chairman of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who once
attended Dairoku Senior High School in Okayama under theprewar education system, presented the garden with twocranes. Afterwards, in collaboration with Kushiro City, Hokkaido,
the garden succeeded in hatching and raising many cranes,bringing back their once lost beauty to the garden.

Pond in the snow.

All photograph are ©Yukio Nanba