Okayama

Okayama Prefecture rises in three steps from the Seto Inland Sea: a coastal plain around Okayama and Kurashiki, the rolling Kibi plateau in the centre and the Chūgoku Mountains along the border with Tottori. Its climate is among the sunniest and driest in Japan, which has earned it the slogan "Land of Sunshine" (Hare no kuni) and makes it a leading grower of white peaches and grapes.

In antiquity the area was the heart of Kibi, a regional power whose keyhole-shaped tombs rival those of the Kinai. In the Edo period the Ikeda lords of Okayama created Kōraku-en, one of Japan's three great gardens, and founded the Shizutani School, one of the earliest public schools for commoners. Kurashiki, a merchant town of the shogunate, preserves its canal quarter and the Ohara Museum of Art.

Okayama is the crossroads of western Japan: the San'yō Shinkansen stops at Okayama, the Great Seto Bridge carries road and rail to Shikoku, and lines run north to the San'in coast. Its ports at Uno and Hinase are gateways to the art islands and fishing islands of the Inland Sea.

The prefecture is named after Okayama Castle, built on a small hill called Okayama ("hill mountain") on the Asahi River, which gave its name to the castle town.

The area corresponds to the provinces of Bizen, Bitchū and Mimasaka, three of the four provinces formed from ancient Kibi (the fourth, Bingo, is now part of Hiroshima). In the Edo period Bizen was ruled from Okayama by the Ikeda, Mimasaka largely from Tsuyama by the Matsudaira, and Bitchū was divided among small domains and shogunal lands. Okayama Prefecture was formed in 1871 and reached its present extent in 1875–1876 by absorbing Oda Prefecture (Bitchū, minus the Bingo districts, which went to Hiroshima) and Hōjō Prefecture (Mimasaka).

Three large rivers, the Yoshii, Asahi and Takahashi, cross the prefecture from north to south and have built the Okayama plain. Much of the southern plain is reclaimed land: Kojima, now a peninsula, was an island until the Edo period, and the shallow Kojima Bay was diked into a freshwater lake in 1959. The coast faces a scattering of islands within the Setonaikai National Park.

The central Kibi plateau is an uplifted peneplain cut by deep river gorges, such as that of the Takahashi. In the north, the Chūgoku Mountains reach over 1,200 metres; the grassy Hiruzen highland in the north-west forms part of the Daisen-Oki National Park.

Southern Okayama has a Seto Inland Sea climate: mild, with low rainfall, many clear days and dry winters, shielded by the Chūgoku Mountains from the Sea of Japan and by the Shikoku Mountains from the Pacific. The northern highlands are colder, with snow in winter and ski areas around Hiruzen and on the border ridges.

In the Kofun period Kibi was one of the most powerful regions of Japan: Tsukuriyama, near Okayama city, is the fourth-largest keyhole-shaped tomb in the country. The legend of Kibitsuhiko defeating the ogre Ura, preserved at Kibitsu Shrine, is widely seen as the source of the Momotarō (Peach Boy) folk tale. Kibi was divided into provinces in the late seventh century.

In the Sengoku period Ukita Naoie and his son Hideie built up Okayama, and in 1582 Toyotomi Hideyoshi flooded Bitchū Takamatsu Castle in a famous siege. The Ikeda, who ruled Okayama from 1603 with a break and continuously from 1632, promoted flood control, land reclamation and education. The city was heavily bombed in 1945. The San'yō Shinkansen reached Okayama in 1972 and the Great Seto Bridge opened in 1988.

Okayama identifies strongly with Momotarō, whose statue greets travellers at Okayama Station and whose millet dumplings, kibi-dango, are the classic souvenir. The Kibi heritage is visible at Kibitsu Shrine and in the kofun of the Kibi plain, now crossed by a cycling route.

Craft traditions include Bizen-yaki, one of the Six Old Kilns of Japan, fired unglazed in wood-burning kilns for about two weeks, and the swordsmiths of Osafune, the most prolific school of the Kamakura period. In the twentieth century Kojima became the home of Japanese jeans and school-uniform manufacturing.

The sunny climate makes Okayama famous for fruit: white peaches, Muscat of Alexandria and Pione grapes grown under glass and in the open. From the Inland Sea come Spanish mackerel (sawara), mamakari and oysters from Hinase. Okayama's festive rice dish, barazushi, reflects both.

Okayama's economy is anchored by the Mizushima coastal industrial zone in Kurashiki, with oil refining, petrochemicals, steel and car manufacturing. Textiles remain important, from denim in Kojima and Ibara to school uniforms. Agriculture is known for fruit, rice and dairy, and the prefecture's position as a transport hub supports logistics and services.