Venue

Conference Venue Information

Okayama Convention Center

Okayama Convention Center

Access to Okayama City and Conference Venue

Okayama City

Conference Venue

Places of Interest in Okayama

Okayama Castle

  • Access: About 15 minutes from JR Okayama Station by streetcar and foot
  • Required Time: About 1-2 hours
  • Web: http://okayama-kanko.net/ujo/english/
  • Summary: Since Okayama Castle was built in 1597, it has acted as the foundation for Okayama City's development. Its exterior consisting of long, black shitami-itabari style wooden planks has earned it the nickname of "Crow Castle". Once a Japanese national treasure, the castle tower (tenshukaku) was burned down due to war damage during World War II. However, the castle tower—with three strata and six stories—has since been rebuilt. From the top of the tower, visitors can gaze upon the streets of Okayama City and Okayama Korakuen Garden located across the river.

Okayama Korakuen Garden

  • Access: About 15 minutes from JR Okayama Station by streetcar and foot
  • Required Time: About 1-2 hours
  • Web: http://www.okayama-korakuen.jp/english/
  • Summary: Okayama Korakuen Garden is a Japanese garden counted as one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan and has earned a maximum three-star rating in the French travel guide, Michelin Green Guide. Okayama Korakuen Garden, on which construction began in 1687, has been passed down to the present largely unchanged from how it was back then despite the fact that successive generations of feudal lords* have added their own personal touches to it so that it would serve as a garden where they could relax and enjoy the scenery.

    *This refers to the lords that governed territories known in Japanese as han feudal domains.

Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter

  • Access:
    1. About 15 minutes by train from JR Okayama Station to JR Kurashiki Station
    2. About 15 minutes by foot from JR Kurashiki Station
  • Required Time: About 1/2 to 1 day
  • Web: http://www.kurashiki-tabi.jp/for/en/
  • Summary: Adjacent to Okayama City, Kurashiki City was famous as a city of commerce during the Edo Period, approximately 400 years ago. One can get a taste of what the town looked like in that time by visiting the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, located in central Kurashiki City, with its faithfully-preserved white-walled storehouses and stone-paved roads.

Seto Inland Sea Cruising (Kojima Sightseeing Pier)

  • Access:
    1. About 22 minutes by train from JR Okayama Station to JR Kojima Station
    2. About 5 minutes by foot from JR Kojima Station
  • Required Time: About 1 hour
  • Summary: Sprawled out to the south of Okayama City, the Seto Inland Sea is a calm sea surrounded by Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Countless islands, both large and small, dot its waters, making for a very beautiful land and seascape. Cruising the Seto Inland Sea and seeing the nearby Great Seto Bridge—which links Shikoku and Honshu together —as well as the many beautiful islands from the deck of a boat is an experience characteristic of Okayama which should not be missed.


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