#Okayama Kōraku-en

[kyotodreamtrips]

Kōraku-en During Sakura Season in Okayama City-Japan. Okayama Castle Ruins seen from Kōraku-en in Okayama City - Japan.

[itsmarjudgelove]

Kōraku-en Japanese garden, Okayama

[afutanuuntii]

Brina mattutina sulla piantagione di tè del giardino Kōraku-en di Okayama. • Morning frost on the tea plantation of Okayama Kōraku-en Garden. • 岡山後楽園の茶畑で朝寒の霜。 ••• #brina #ghiaccio #inverno #freddo #mattina #camelliasinensis #piantadelte #okayamakorakuen #giardinogiapponese #frost #ice #winter #cold #morning #coldmorning #teaplant #teaplantation #japanesegarden #霜 #氷 #冬 #冬景色 #朝寒 #チャノキ #茶畑 #岡山後楽園 #日本庭園 #tè #tea #茶 (岡山後楽園) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKBm_kWAF13/?igshid=nf7e1frea6n1

[etudianteenvadrouille]

Okayama : le château noir et ses jardins

Après le château d’Himeji, nous nous rendons à Okayama, connu pour son château noir et son jardin, un des trois plus beaux du Japon

Le château vu depuis la rivière

Château vu depuis la cour

Dans le jardin de Kōraku-en

Les nénuphars sont en fleurs

Le château depuis le jardin

Soirée suchi dans un restaurant où les plats tournent ! Un vrai régal !

Une plaque d’égout à Okayama illustrant une légende très connue au Japon, celle de Momotaro et qui se serait déroulé dans cette partie du Japon

[tokyoki]

Kōraku-en, Okayama by mlisowsk

[madoyaka]

Illuminazione “Il giardino dei doni dalla terra di Okayama” al Giardino Kōraku-en di Okayama. • “The Garden of the Blessings from the Land of Okayama” illumination at Okayama Kōraku-en Garden. • 岡山後楽園のイルミネーション「おかやま恵みの庭園」。 ••• #okayama #korakuen #giardino #giardinogiapponese #illuminazione #lanterne #prato #okayamakorakuen #hellokorakuen #garden #japanesegarden #summergarden #fantasygarden #illumination #lightinstallation #lightdesign #lanterns #lawn #岡山 #後楽園 #岡山後楽園 #幻想庭園 #庭園 #日本庭園 #灯り #ライトアップ #芝生 #cerchio #circle #円 (presso 岡山後楽園) https://www.instagram.com/p/CicXGYkvtzg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[minuga-hana]

Okayama - Okayama-jo Castle as viewed from Kōraku-en Garden (後楽園) by cheunwi

[dato-georgia-caucasus]

Kōraku-en, Okayama, Japan

[part-time-runner]

Kōraku-en, Okayama, Japan

[kyotodreamtrips]

Kōraku-en During Sakura Season in Okayama City-Japan. Cherry blossoms along the Asahi River next to Kōraku-en in Okayama City - Japan.

[the-boring-death]

The Okayama castle 😍😍😍 https://song.link/jp/i/1212043471 #okayama #okayamacastle #castle #crow #crowncastle #thecrow #dark #darkrock (presso Kōraku-en) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1QCfjpC34X/?igshid=vt4ydy3ndn16

[andrewgarick]

Feeding the fish #okayamakorakuengarden #fish #okayama #japan #jrrailpass (at Kōraku-en) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx4ckRVgzAn/?igshid=1mzjlba63rmly

[pascaljapon]

Okayama : son jardin, son château

Samedi 20 avril, nous arrivons à Okayama. Un charmant personnage nous accueille.

Il s'agit de Momotaro, dont vous pourrez apprendre plus ici : https://www.kanpai.fr/societe-japonaise/legende-momotaro

Nous visitons le Kōraku-en, "l'un des 3 plus beaux jardins du japon". Passage obligé, donc !

Le jardin est censé représenter différents paysages du Japon sous forme miniature. Le grand étang central représente la mer intérieure de Seto et ses îles. Collines, pelouses, étangs, chutes, ponts, champs de thé et de riz s’enchaînent.

- Des champs de thé, des rizières fleuries et des photos de mariage -

Dans le jardin se trouve également un élevage de grues du Japon.

S'il est agréable à visiter, nous en sommes ressortis un peu déçus comparé au Kenroku-en ou au jardin de Shibuya.

Très ouvert et relativement plat, la sensation de "sauvage" et de "nature" est assez effacée. Bien que beau, on a la sensation d'être dans un petit parc plutôt occidental, avec des grandes allées.

( Elline)

[boy-toy]

Hanging in one of Japan's three most beautiful gardens, nbd 🌱 #travel #japan #okayama (at Kōraku-en)

[scoobydoojedi]

Ikeda clan

Ikeda clan  was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji. In the Edo period, several of the clan's branches were daimyo families, most notably of the Tottori Domain and Okayama Domain. Takamasa Ikeda, former head of the Okayama Ikeda house was a husband of Atsuko Ikeda, fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa.

*Prominent People*

*Ikeda Tsuneoki* (1536 –1584) he served Nobunaga, since his mother was a foster mother of Nobunaga. In 1570, he was active in the Battle of Anegawa and became the lord of Inuyama Castle. After that, he took part in various battles, such as the Battle of Nagashino against the Takeda clan.

In 1580, he beat Araki Murashige, who locked himself in Hanakuma Castle and was given Murashige's domain. In 1582, he took part in Hashiba Hideyoshi's force at the Battle of Yamazaki after the Incident at Honnō-ji, and beat Akechi Mitsuhide. He also took part in the meeting in Kiyosu Castle. In 1583, he was given 130,000 koku in Mino Province, and became the lord of Ōgaki Castle. In 1584, he took part in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute on the side of Hideyoshi. He captured Inuyama Castle on his first assault. However, he and his eldest son, Ikeda Motosuke, died in the battle at Nagakute.

*Ikeda Sen*(????-????) was the daughter of Ikeda Tsuneoki and sister of Ikeda Terumasa.

She was known for leading a Teppō unit, or unit of musketeers, which consisted of 200 women in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. After her husband's death in the same battle, she married Nakamura Kazuuji.

*Ikeda Terumasa* (1565 – 1613) Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the late Azuchi-Momoyama Period, and due to his service at the Battle of Sekigahara, received a fief at Himeji.

He joined his father in fighting for Hideyoshi in the Komaki Campaign (1584). He led troops at Nagakute (1584), the battle in which his father was killed. In 1590, following the transfer of Tokugawa Ieyasu to the Kanto, Terumasa was established at Yoshida in Mikawa, a 152,000 koku fief. In 1594 Terumasa married one of Tokugawa’s daughters, and after Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, the Ikeda drifted into Ieyasu’s camp. When the Sekigahara Campaign began in the fall of 1600, Terumasa immediately sided with Tokugawa; on 28 September he competed with Fukushima Masanori to be the first to attack Gifu, held by Oda Hidenobu. At the Battle of Sekigahara Ikeda commanded 4,500 troops in the rear guard and saw some desultory fighting with Chosokabe Morichika’s contingent as the battle wound down. Following the Tokugawa victory, Terumasa was given a 520,000-koku fief in Harima, centered on Himeji Castle (which he greatly expanded). In 1603 Bizen was added to Terumasa’s territory, and this he assigned to his eldest son, Toshitaka (1584-1616). By the time of Terumasa’s death in 1613, the Ikeda had grown to rule over Harima, Bizen, Inaba, and Awaji, with a combined income of around 1,000,000-koku. Following the death of Toshitaka, the Tokugawa Bakufu took steps to reduce the alarming power of the Ikeda and eventually reduced the family to Tottori (Inaba) and Okayama (Bizen).

*Atsuko Ikeda* (born 7 March 1931-still living) formerly known as Atsuko Princess Yori is the widow of MarquisTakamasa Ikeda ( Ikeda Takamasa, 21 October 1926 – 21 July 2012) and fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun.Princess Atsuko was born at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.As with her elder sisters, she was not raised by her biological parents, but by a succession of court ladies at a separate palace built for her and her elder sisters in the Marunouchidistrict of Tokyo. She graduated from theGakushuin Peer’s School, and was also tutored along with her siblings in English language by an American tutor, Elizabeth Grey Vining during the American occupation of Japan following World War II. She graduated Gakushuin University Women's College in March 1952.

On 10 October 1952, Princess Yori married Ikeda Takamasa, the eldest son of former Marquis Nobumasa Ikeda and a direct descendant of the last daimyō of Okayama Domain, whom she had met at a Japanese tea ceremony at Kōraku-en gardens. The couple were engaged after only six months, but wedding plans had to be postponed due to the death of her grandmother Empress Teimeiin 1951 and subsequent period of mourning. Upon her marriage, Princess Yori became the second daughter of an emperor to relinquish her status as a member of the Japanese imperial family and become a commoner upon marriage, in accordance with the 1947 Imperial Household Law.

The former princess relocated to Okayama Prefecture, where her husband, a wealthycattle rancher, has served as director of the Ikeda Zoo outside of Okayama city for over fifty years.

In 1965, she was hospitalized with sepsis, which was a cause of great concern for the Imperial Family, as her elder sister Shigeko Higashikuni had already died of stomach cancer.

In October 1988, Ikeda succeeded her ailing elder sister, Kazuko Takatsukasa, as the most sacred priestess (saishu) of the Ise Shrine. She also serves as the Chairperson of theAssociation of Shinto Shrines.

*Emperor Akihito* (The current Emperor of Japan)(December 1933-still living) (also called Emperor Heisei)Akihito is the reigning Emperor of Japan, the 125th Emperor of his line according to Japan'straditional order of succession. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 7 January 1989.Akihito is the eldest son and the fifth child of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun(Nagako). Titled Prince Tsugu as a child, he was raised and educated by his private tutors and then attended the elementary and secondary departments of the Peers' School (Gakushūin) from 1940 to 1952 Unlike his predecessors in the Imperial Family, he did not receive a commission as an Army officer, at the request of his father, Hirohito.

During the American firebombing raids on Tokyo in March 1945, Akihito and his younger brother, Prince Masahito, were evacuated from the city. During the American occupation of Japan following World War II, Prince Akihito was tutored in the English language and Western manners by Elizabeth Gray Vining. He briefly studied at the Department of Political Science at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, though he never received a degree.

Although he was Heir-Apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne from the moment of his birth, Akihito's formal Investiture as Crown Prince was held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 10 November 1952. In June 1953, Crown Prince Akihito represented Japan at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Then-Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko made official visits to thirty-seven countries. As an Imperial prince, Akihito compared the role of Japanese royalty to that of a robot; and, he expressed the hope that he would like to help in bringing the Imperial family closer to the people of Japan.

After the death of Emperor Hirohito on 7 January 1989, the crown prince received the succession. Emperor Akihito formally acceded to the throne  on 12 November 1990. In 1998, during a state visit to the United Kingdom, he was invested with The Most Noble Order of the Garter.

[bm2ab]

Castle's Rock - 20 April 2018 Okayama Castle Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan Credits: Wei-Te Wong

Okayama Castle (岡山城 Okayama-jō) 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 the national Agency for Cultural Affairs as Important Cultural Properties.

In stark contrast to the white "Egret Castle" of neighboring Himeji, Okayama Castle has a black exterior, earning it the nickname Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō) or "castle of the black bird". (The black castle of Matsumoto in Nagano is also known as "Crow Castle", but it is karasu-jō in Japanese.)

Today, only a few parts of Okayama Castle's roof (including the fish-shaped-gargoyles) are gilded, but prior to the Battle of Sekigahara the main keep also featured gilded roof tiles, earning it the nickname Golden Crow Castle (金烏城 Kin U-jō).

Construction of Okayama Castle was started in 1573 by Ukita Naoie and completed by his son Hideie in 1597. Three years later, Hideie sided with the ill-fated Toyotomi Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, was captured by the Tokugawa Clan and exiled to the island prison of Hachijo. The castle and surrounding fiefdoms were given to Kobayakawa Hideaki as spoils of war. Kobayakawa died just two years later without leaving an heir, and the castle (and fiefdom) was given to the Ikeda Clan, who later added Kōraku-en as a private garden.

In 1869 the castle became the property of the Meiji government's Hyōbu-shō (Ministry of War), who saw the 'samurai' era castles as archaic and unnecessary. Like many other castles throughout Japan, the outer moats were filled in and the old castle walls gradually disappeared underneath the city. On June 29, 1945, allied bombers burnt the castle to the ground. Reconstruction work began in 1964 and was completed in 1966. In 1996 the rooftop gargoyles were gilded as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations.

The reconstructed castle is a concrete building complete with air-conditioning, elevators and numerous displays documenting the castle's history (with a heavy focus on the Ikeda era.) Little information is available in English. Access to the inner sanctuary is free.