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Introduction
Okayama-shi as we know it today is a product of a more than four centuries of development. It
takes a long series of both constructions and demolitions by various, succeeding reigns for
Okayama-shi to achieve the shape we see today. It is no wonder that in order to fully grasp the
identity of this city, we need a thorough insight into its history.
This writing aims to provide at least parts of such an insight through a study on ancient maps
and government publications of Okayama city. This brief study has revealed to the writer some
interesting facts on (1) how Okayama's ancient urban planning re ected the social hierarchy of
its people and (2) how Okayama developed from a castle town to a modern city as we know it
today.
At its mature state as a castle town during the Edo period, Okayama's topography, especially the
residence areas of its people, quite signi cantly re ected the social hierarchy of the Edo era.
In order to see this, we need to understand the social hierarchy of Edo-era Japan rst. Under the
de facto government of the shoguns, the hierarchy looked like the following.
1. Daimy
2. Samurai
3. Farmers
4. Artisans
5. Merchants
According to one of Okayama city's publications, the residence arrangement of Okayama castle
town was as shown by Fig. 1. The castle town comprised of six districts:
each with its own speci c group of residents. Fig. 1 also shows us that these districts were
separated from each other by streams from Asahigawa river. We can also see that Honmaru and
the two districts of Ninomaru were further separated from the rest of the castle town by the
presence of citadels.
Fig. 1 Map of ancient Okayama
The Inner Citadel
The Inner Citadel was the residence of the governing, head family of the daimy clan. This
residence held the highest form of formality compared to the rest of the castle. This was also
where the central administrative activities happened.
Edo Era
After the painful defeat of Ukita Hideie in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the
governance of Okayama was taken over by Kobayakawa Hideaki. Kobayakawa made several
additions to both inner and outer areas of Okayama Castle complex, developing the castle town
even further. His additions were mostly aimed at strengthening the military control over the
people. This is unsurprising considering the fact that Kobayakawa actually received his ruling
power over Okayama from Tokugawa Ieyasu who himself established the social hierarchy of Edo
Era. Kobayakawa's reign didn't last long, however, due to his sudden death after being in power
for only two years.
The governance was then taken over by Ikeda Tadatsugu from Himeji. Under the reign of Ikeda
clan, Okayama witnessed its signi cant growth in both economic and sociocultural
developments. This period witnessed the extended development of Okayama Castle, the
establishment of townspeople's residential areas as the centre of Okayama's economic activities,
and the building of Krakuen Garden among others. Ikeda clan kept being the ruler of Okayama
until the Tokugawa Bakufu ended.
Due to having a Japanese Army military base during World War II, Okayama became one of the
bombing targets of the US Army Air Forces and consequently suered a huge damage. Virtually
the entire Okayama, including Okayama Castle and Krakuen Garden, was burnt to ashes.
In Okayama, Sany Shinkansen service was rst operated in 1972 and Seto-hashi Bridge was
opened for public use in 1988. The even more connecting transportation system enabled
Okayama to grow even faster. Okayama achieved the "core city" status in 1996 and the
"designated city" status in 2009.
References
. http://www.city.okayama.jp/museum/okayamajou/jokaku/jokaku.htm
. http://www.city.okayama.jp/contents/000159881.pdf
Honjo, Eijiro. 1928. Changes of Social Classes during the Tokugawa Period. https://
repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125171/1/ecb0031_056.pdf