Okayama Korakuen Garden, Okayama

An Edo-period lord's garden and one of Japan's three great gardens: wide lawns, ponds, Okayama Castle beyond, and even tea fields, rice paddies and cranes.

Wide pond, islands and clipped shrubs across the open landscape of Okayama Korakuen — Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Traditional wooden pavilion among pine trees in Okayama Korakuen Garden — Photo: Brakeet, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

A garden made for a lord to relax in

Okayama Korakuen Garden is a daimyo garden (a feudal lord's garden) that Ikeda Tsunamasa, the second lord of the Okayama domain, had built as a place for the lord to unwind. Work began in 1687, and by 1700 it looked much as it does today. Together with Kairaku-en in Mito and Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, it is counted as one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, and it is also designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty (a place the national government recognises as especially valuable for the beauty of its scenery).

In the Edo period it was called Gokoen, and in 1871 it was renamed Korakuen. The name comes from the Chinese saying senyu koraku, meaning "worry before the people do, and take your own pleasure only after them". In 1884 it passed to Okayama Prefecture and was opened to the public.

Highlights on a walk around the garden

The garden is a kaiyu-shiki teien, a strolling garden where you enjoy the changing views as you walk around the pond. Three islands float in Sawa-no-ike Pond at its centre, and beyond a wide lawn rises the small hill of Yuishinzan. Okayama Castle, outside the garden, is also "borrowed" as part of the view.

Enyotei, the lord's living room when he spent time in the garden, was rebuilt in 1960 with its original floor plan. Ryuten, a rest house with a stream running right through the building, is also a rare structure by nationwide standards.

The garden also has a tea field, where tea was grown for the lord's everyday drinking, and rice paddies. Since 1956 it has kept red-crowned cranes (tancho-zuru, large cranes with a red patch on the head), and from autumn into winter there are events in which the cranes walk through the garden.

Seasonal events and the garden at night

There are seasonal events all year round, such as the tea-picking festival in May, the rice-planting festival in June, the lotus-viewing gathering in July and moon-viewing evenings in autumn.

In spring, summer and autumn, the garden is lit up at night for the Genso Teien ("fantasy garden") event. Enyotei is open to the public for special periods in May and October. Dates change from year to year, so check the events calendar on the official website.

Getting there

It is about 25 minutes on foot from JR Okayama Station, or you can take the tram or a bus. Okayama Castle is very close by, so it is well worth visiting both.

Opening hours change with the seasons. Check the official website for the latest information.

Tips

The red-crowned cranes are sometimes taken off display depending on their health (the chicks went back on display in August 2026). If you want to see them, check the notices on the official website or social media.
If you want to see the view from inside Enyotei, time your visit for the special openings in late May or October.
The official website has information in English and other languages, and an English leaflet (PDF) is also available.