- Okayama, Okayama
Infobox City Japan
Name= Okayama
JapaneseName= 岡山市
Map
Region= Chūgoku
Prefecture= Okayama
District=
Area_km2= 789.88
PopDate= March 2007
Population= 698,948
Density_km2=
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LatitudeDegrees= 34
LatitudeMinutes= 39
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 133
LongtitudeMinutes= 55
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree=
Flower=
Bird=
Symbol
SymbolDescription= Flag
Mayor=Shigeo Takaya
CityHallPostalCode=
CityHallAddress=
CityHallPhone=
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/ City of Okayama]nihongo|Okayama|岡山市|Okayama-shi is the capital city of
Okayama Prefecture in theChūgoku region ofJapan .As of March 2007, the city has an estimated
population of 698,946 and the density of 884.87 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km². OnJanuary 22 ,2007 , the towns of Seto and Takebe merged into Okayama. The city was founded onJune 1 ,1889 .The city is known as the site of the
Korakuen Garden and the blackOkayama Castle , which is a modernreconstruction . The popular Japanese folktale ofMomotaro may have originated there.Sogenji is a very large
zen monastery belonging to the Rinzai sect in the centre of the city. It has produced several of the abbots of the major monasteries in Kyoto. Under the direction of Shodo Harada Roshi it is now a training centre for foreign practitioners and allows women and lay people and as well as those participating on a part-time basis to as well as ordained men to participate.Okayama University is located in the city, which founded as a medical school in 1870 and estabilished in 1949 as a university.The city is one of few Japanese cities to have kept an operational
tram system . It is a major rail interchange as trains fromShikoku connect with theSanyō main line here.Okayama Airport serves the city.The city became a
core city in 1996. Later in March 22, 2005, the towns of Mitsu in Mitsu District and the town of Nadasaki from Kojima District were merged into the city, and on January 22, 2007, the town of Takebe from Mitsu District and Seto from Akaiwa District were also merged into the city. All three districts have since been dissolved.After the merger and part of the negotiation with the Okayama Prefecture, the city slated to becoming a designated city in 2009.
Photo Gallery
Points of interest
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Handayama Botanical Garden
*Korakuen Garden
*Okayama Castle
*Okayama University Sister cities
*flagicon|USA
San Jose, California ,United States (1957)
*flagicon|Costa Rica San José,Costa Rica (1969)
*flagicon|Bulgaria Plovdiv,Bulgaria (1972)
*flagicon|ChinaLuoyang ,China (1981)
*flagicon|South KoreaBucheon ,South Korea (2002)
*flagicon|TaiwanHsinchu City ,Taiwan (2003)Trivia
Masashi Kishimoto , famous for creating the anime/manga series "Naruto ", was born in Okayama. The town was also the inspiration for the village of Konoha, where most of the protagonists of "Naruto" live.External links
* [http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/index-e.htm Okayama official website]
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Okayama Wikitravel: Okayama]
* [http://okayama.over-blog.com/ Okayama french blog]
* [http://okayamapix.blogspot.com Okayama 2006 Indian Blog]Notables
*
Shin Koyamada ,Hollywood actor .
*Ai Soon Kim ,New York modern dancer .
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