Okayama Castle

I visited Okayama Castle several years ago when writing The Best of Okayama. It was good to drop by again on my latest trip, especially as the sky was postcard blue. (These shots are good examples of images where I have left room for text. Doing this hopefully makes things easier for the photo editor and the graphic designer laying out the page.)

Here’s the description of the castle from The Best of Okayama.

Modern Japan may be dominated by giant corporations, but for centuries it was feudal lords or shoguns who ruled the land. A lord’s castle served as both a military stronghold and as a sign of his power and status.

Nearly all Japanese castles were painted white, the most famous example of which is Himeji-jo. With its elegant towers and iridescent walls, Himeji-jo is thought to be Japan’s most beautiful castle, and became known as The White Egret Castle. Eastern philosophy says that everything has its opposite: Yin and Yang, good and evil, life and death. The White Egret Castle in Himeji has it opposite in Okayama – The Crow Castle.

While Himeji-jo, could be described as elegant or fairy-tale, The Crow Castle is far more imposing. The black walls and towers may be trimmed with gold, but they still give the appearance of brute strength and invulnerability. When the castle was built, the country’s finest weapons were samurai swords. The castle’s downfall would come centuries later from something far more devastating. On June 29, 1945, allied bombing raids hit Okayama City, leaving all but one turret of the castle destroyed.

In 1966, Okayama Castle was carefully reconstructed, and has once again become a commanding sight on the city skyline. The crow, like the phoenix, can rise from the ashes of disaster.