Okayama, the legendary prefecture

The story of Momotaro ("momo" signifies "peach" and "Taro" is a typical traditional Japanese male name) was a little boy born from a peach, found by an elederly couple. He grow up with his adoptive parents happily and became a young man of strong-minded. As his village used to be attacked by the demons, he decided to go to fight with them. His parents handed him a flag to bring with him and also the provisions. On his way, he met a dog, a monky, and a pheasant and all of them accept to go with him to fight against the demons instead of having some previsions. Thanks to the energy of the foods, they won the fight and they returned home with tresors of demons and glory. They lived happily ever after.

The castle of Kinojo

Built on the mountain of 400 m of height more than 1300 years ago, it had been considered to be the ruins of the castle haunted by the demons in the legend. 
This castle is visited by people who hike and the landscape from this high location is splendour.
 

The shrines Kibitsu-jinja and Kibitsuhiko-jinja

Designated as a national treasure, the shrine Kibutsu-jinja has been inspired from the lengend of Momotaro. It is known for the impressive corridor of 360m of length and we can enjoy the beautiful flowers in all seasons from this. The momo-omamori (peach amulet) inspired from the Momotaro story is a very popular souvenir. The shrine Kibitsuhiko-jinja has a mausoleum in honour of Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto, a Japanese legendary prince which is all likelihood of Momotaro story.

But the higlights of the prefecture of Okayama are not all mentioned yet. There are many others as follows:

The historical district of Okayama city: Kurashiki Bikan 

The historical district located along the Kurashiki river. It can be easily accessed to many interesting places for tourists and to the handicraft shops, and also the boat tour of the river is one of the flagship activity for all visitors.
 

The village of Imbe

It is the hometown of Bizen Pottery, one of very famous pottery and one of the oldest handicraft of Japan. This art is aged more than 1000 years. Contrary to other ceramics, it is colourless and the motifs are only created from the fire. The birthplace of this ancient art is the city of Bizen, located 30km from Okayama city.
 

The city of Setouchi

Lastly, the city of Setouchi is the place where you should make a visit. This is a city of many historical stories as Bizen Osafune Sword Museum where you can see the process of making the famous Japanese katana.

The city of Setouchi is located on the edge of the Seto Inland Sea. In this year, there will be the international art festival of Setouchi, one of the biggest art festivals of Japan which takes place every three years. 12 islands of the Inland Sea will be decorated by the contemporary art objects which will leave you the unforgettable memory.

Click here to see our Setouchi Triennale Tour

Le musée Seirensho d'Inujima

Built in the ruins of an old refinery in 2008, the museum is a reflection on Japanese modernity including several works referring directly to the work of the famous Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima. Beyond the beauty of the works, the walk in the ruins offers a magnificent sea view.

The weather is clement in Okayama prefecture and it is favorable for the fruits (off course the most famous one is a white peach!) and they are the local specialties.

We can taste also the seafoods with high quality from the Seto Inland Sea.

Enfin, l’un des souvenirs les plus populaires est le kibi-dango, une friandise faite de pâte de riz soyeuse de diverses saveurs, notamment à la pêche et au raisin.
Then, we would like to mention the most popular souvenir. THe kibi-dango, the sweets made by rice paste with many tastes, especially in peach taste and in grape taste.
 

Cliock here to see our Setouchi Triennale tour

Clck here to see our yacht & cycling tour of Seto Inland Sea