Okayama Castle and Art Museum

Today we took the train from Takamatsu to Okayama. The Great Seto Bridge connects Kagawa prefecture with Okayama. The bridge isn't one single bridge though, it's a series of connected bridges hopping form island to island. Total length is over 13 kms, the train travels on the lower level. I couldn't really take photos of the bridge, never had a good view on it. After dropping our luggage in the hotel nn Okayama we checked out the castle. It was built in the late 1500s by Ukita Hideie, who clearly wanted a killer view and a strong defense against some invaders. The black exterior earned it the name "Ujo" - Crow Castle. The castle played significant role in the military sense. After the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 Ukita Hideie, the castle's lord, sided with the Toyotomi clan against Tokugawa Ieyasu. Following the Toyotomi defeat, Hideie was exiled, and the castle was transferred to Kobayakawa Hideaki as a reward for his support of the Tokugawa. Or something like that. The black tower:

The gate to the castle:

The Asahi river as seen from the top of the tower. This poor fish probably jumped out from the river hundreds of years ago and got stuck on the tower roof. So sad...

After lunch we went to the local museum, which hosted a very interesting exhibition about the Silk Road. The artifacts were borrowed from several museums in China. The amazing story of the merchants of the Silk Road in different periods was told by the exhibition via its artifacts.