Okayama Prefecture, Prefecture region in western Honshu, Japan
Okayama is a prefecture in western Honshu, running from the Seto Inland Sea coast in the south up to the Chugoku mountain range in the north. The administrative territory includes 90 small islands and several plains where rice paddies and small towns spread across the landscape.
The territory formed in 1871 during the Meiji Restoration, when three older provinces called Bitchu, Bizen and Mimasaka merged into one administrative unit. This reorganization followed the end of the shogunate and Japan's shift toward modern governance structures.
Workshops across the region produce Bizen pottery, a form of ceramic fired without glaze that leaves surfaces in shades of brown and rust. Visitors can enter open studios to watch craftspeople shaping clay on the wheel or try their hand at forming a bowl under guidance.
Travelers reach the area through Okayama Airport, JR West Okayama Station, or the Chugoku Expressway that crosses the region from east to west. Inside the territory, regional trains and buses link towns and coastal villages with each other.
The Saidai-ji Temple hosts an annual winter festival where 9000 men wearing only loincloths compete to catch sacred wooden sticks thrown by priests into the crowd. The event is considered one of the rowdiest religious gatherings in the country.
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