岡山城天守閣

About this photo

This photograph shows the keep of Okayama Castle in Okayama City. It appears in Nihon Meisho Fuzoku Dai Shashincho (Great Photo Album of Japan's Famous Places and Customs), published in 1931 (Showa 6). It shows the original keep as it was before it burned in the war.

Okayama Castle was built around 1597 by Ukita Hideie, one of the Five Elders, the council of great lords under the Toyotomi government. Its keep, with three roofs outside and six floors inside, is said to have been modeled on Oda Nobunaga's Azuchi Castle, and because of its black clapboard (shitamiita) walls it is also called Ujo, Crow Castle. The castle is also known for diverting the Asahi River so that it served as a moat.

The keep was designated a National Treasure in 1931, but it burned in an air raid in 1945. The present keep was rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1966. The Tsukimi Yagura (Moon-Viewing Turret) and the Nishinomaru Nishite Yagura, which escaped the fire, are national Important Cultural Properties.

Glossary