Korakuen is a beautiful landscape garden and Okayama's main attraction. Along with Kanazawa's
Kenrokuen and Mito's Kairakuen, Korakuen is well known as one of Japan's three best landscape gardens. It is situated just beside Okayama Castle, which can be seen from the garden as "borrowed scenery".
The local feudal lord ordered the construction of Korakuen in 1687 as a place of entertainment for the ruling family and a location for receiving important guests. Occasionally, the public was permitted to enter the garden.
Korakuen is a spacious garden that offers a large pond, streams, walking paths and a hill that serves as a lookout point. Rather unique for a Japanese garden, however, are Korakuen's spacious lawns. Also found in the garden are groves of plum, cherry and maple trees, tea and rice fields, an archery range and a crane aviary.
