According to the historical text “Shoku Nihongi,” which was compiled during the Heian Period (794~1185), the province of Mimasaka-no-Kuni was formed in the sixth year of the Wado Period (713), when the six districts of Aida, Katsuda, Tomata, Kume, Oba and Majima split off from the northern part of Bizen Province. These six districts covered essentially the same land as the ten modern-day cities, towns and villages that now make up northern Okayama Prefecture (Tsuyama City, Maniwa City, Mimasaka City, Shinjo Village, Kagamino Town, Sho’o Town, Nagi Town, Nishiawakura Village, Kumenan Town and Misaki Town).
Mimasaka City
Musashi-no-Sato / Musashi Museum
This museum displays many priceless treasures, including a portrait of Bodhidharma by Musashi himself and one of his tsuba (sword handguard) with a distinctive “catfish and gourd” design. The surrounding area is full of famous spots and ruins of places with a connection to Miyamoto Musashi.
- Musashi Museum
☎ 0868-78-4600(Musashi-no-Sato Gorinbo Inn) - 94 Miyamoto, Mimasaka City
- Open Daily
- http://kanko.city.mimasaka.lg.jp/detail/index_62.html
[Sho’o Town]
Sho’o Museum of the Arts
This museum houses a collection of paintings by artists such as Kinichiro Fukushima and manuscripts and other materials of such literary figures as Ki Kimura and the playwright Roppuku Nukada.
- Sho’o Museum of the Arts
☎ 0868-38-0270 - 207-4 Katsumada, Sho’o Town
- Monday & Holidays
- http://www.town.shoo.lg.jp/museum/index.htm
[Tsuyama City]
Tsuyama Archives of Western Learning
This museum displays materials related to notable scholars of Dutch learning who were either from or had some connection to Tsuyama, including Genzui Udagawa and Genpo Mitsukuri.
- Tsuyama Archives of Western Learning
☎ 0868-23-3324 - 5 Nishishinmachi, Tsuyama City
- Monday (Following Day If Monday a Holiday) / Days Following Holidays
- http://www.tsuyama-yougaku.jp
[Tsuyama City]
Tsuyama City Museum
The history and culture of Tsuyama are exhibited for each er. A bird's-eye view of Edo "Edo Ichimokuzu Folding Screen" is also in the collection!
- Tsuyama City Museum
☎ 0868-22-4567 - 92 Sange, Tsuyama City
- Monday (Following Day If Monday a Holiday) / Days Following Holidays
- http://www.tsu-haku.jp/
[Maniwa City]
Former Senkyo Jinjo Elementary School
This wooden Renaissance-style school building was built in Meiji 40 (1907). The building interior is open for tours. The school has become famous as a filming location for movies.
- Maniwa Espace Cultural Promotion Foundation
☎ 0867-42-7000 - 17-1 Nabeya, Maniwa City
- Wednesday
- http://kuse-espace.jp/
[Misaki Town]
Ginko Kishida Memorial hall
Born and raised in Tochibara (now part of Misaki Town), Ginko Kishida was a true Japanese renaissance man, known as the first person in Japan to work as a journalist, the first to manufacture and sell water-soluble eye medicine, the first to found a school for the blind, deaf and mute, the first to open regular ferry service between Edo and Yokohama and many other Japan firsts. He was also instrumental in popularizing the now-familiar dish of rice with raw egg throughout Japan. Within the Asahi Cultural Hall in Misaki Town, there is a memorial hall dedicated to Ginko Kishida and his many great deeds so that they may be remembered for generations to come.
- Asahi Library
☎ 0867-27-9012 - 1001-7 Nishikawa, Misaki-cho, Kume-gun, Okayama Prefecture
- free
- Monday, 3rd Sunday, end of month, year-end and New Year holidays
[Mimasaka City]
Historic Townscape Preservation District
This post station along the Inaba Kaido Highway was home to the still extant Ohara Inn, which was used by the Lords of Tottori Domain when they passed through on their way to and from Edo under the sankin kotai (alternate attendance) system, wherein feudal lords were required to divide their time between their home domains and the capital of Edo. The gates of honor and palaces built in the “sukiya” (tea ceremony house) style still look exactly as they did back in the day.
- Mimasaka City Ohara General Branch Office
☎ 0868-78-3111 - Furumachi, Mimasaka City
[Sho’o Town]
Katsumada Lodgings
Part of the Shimoyama Inn, where the Lords of Tsuyama Domain once stayed, remains intact to this day. Located along the old highway, the former Katsuda District Office has now become a symbol of the town.
- Sho’o Town Office
☎ 0868-38-3111 - Katsumada, Sho’o Town
[Tsuyama City]
Joto Historic Building Preservation District
With its lattice doors and Namako walls, this historic townscape preservation district retains the charming atmosphere of the castle towns of old. Many of the historic buildings allow visitors inside, including the Sakushu Joto Mansion, the former home of the noted scholar of Dutch learning Genpo Mitsukuri and the Joto Mukashi Machiya (old townhouse).
- Tsuyama City Industrial Culture Department History Town Development Promotion Office
☎ 0868-32-7000 - Joto Area, Tsuyama City
[Tsuyama City]
Josai Area
This area is full of shrines and temples, including Hongenji Temple, the family temple of the feudal lords of Tsuyama Domain, the Mori Clan. At the same time, the area also retains vestiges of its heyday in the Taisho Period (1912-1926), when it prospered as a residential area for merchants and artisans.
- Tsuyama City Industrial Culture Department History Town Development Promotion Office
☎ 0868-32-7000 - Nishiteramachi/Nishiimamachi Area, Tsuyama City
[Maniwa City]
Katsuyama Townscape Historical Preservation District
This stretch of town along the ancient Izumo Kaido Highway features rows of old shops and houses featuring distinctive white walls, Namako walls and lattice grids. One of the great pleasures of Katsuyama is enjoying a stroll while viewing the unique and creative shop curtains hanging from the eaves of each building.
- Katsuyama City Tourist Association
☎ 0867-44-2120 - Katsuyama, Maniwa City
[Shinjo Village]
Shinjo Juku (Lodgings)
Sitting before the treacherous Shiju Magari (40 Turn) Pass—considered the most difficult stretch of the Izumo Kaido Highway—Shinjo was once a major post station full of inns for feudal lords and their attendants. It is also famous for “Gaisenzakura,” its rows of cherry trees that bloom every spring along a stretch of the ancient highway.
- Shinjo Village Office of Industry and Construction
☎ 0867-56-2628 - Kamimachi~Asahimachi, Shinjo Village
[Misaki Town]
Yanahara Mine Park (Yanahara Mine Museum)
The site of the former Kichigahara Station has been transformed into a park and museum that recreates the look and feel of Yanahara Mine and the surrounding mining town as it appeared in the 1950s. The actual Kichigahara Station building has been preserved exactly as it was in its heyday.
- Yanahara Mine Museum
☎ 0868-62-7155 - 394-2 Kichigahara, Misaki Town
- 9:00~17:00
- Monday (Following Day If Monday a Holiday)
- Adults: 510 Yen / Children: 300 Yen
- https://www.town.misaki.okayama.jp/soshiki/sangyokensetukanko/79.html
[Tsuyama City]
Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum
Featuring various displays such as the second largest fan-shaped train garage in all of Japan and thirteen rare train cars, including a D51 steam locomotive (known affectionately as “Degoichi”), Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum serves to educate about the history and mechanisms of railroads.
- Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum
☎ 0868-35-3343 - Otani, Tsuyama City
- 9:00~16:00
- Monday (the next day if it is a national holiday) December 29-31
- General 310 yen (high school students and above), junior high school and elementary school students 100 yen
- http://www.tsuyamakan.jp/manabi/
[Tsuyama City]
Mimasaka-Takio Station on the Inbi Line
With its wooden windowpanes and ticket gates, this invaluable train station building vividly retains the appearance of a small, rural station in pre-war Japan. This still operational station was used as a location for the filming of “Tora-san to the Rescue,” a film in the beloved “Otoko wa Tsurai yo (Tora-san)” series.
- Tsuyama City Tourist Agency
☎ 0868-22-3310 - 257-3 Horisaka, Tsuyama City
[Tsuyama City]
Turntable at Mimasaka-Kawai Station on the Inbi Line
This station retains the vestiges of its time as a reversing station for snowplow trains coming from Tottori. It was here that these trains were turned around and supplied with water. Today, the station is an invaluable Heritage of Industrial Modernization Site.
- Tsuyama City Tourist Agency
☎ 0868-22-3310 - Kamocho Sange, Tsuyama City
[Inbi Line]
The Slow Life of Mimasaka—Journey by Train
Take your time and enjoy the slow journey between Tsuyama and Chizu. The highlights of your trip will include viewing retro train stations and the warm welcome the trains receive at each station.
- Tsuyama City Tourist Agency (Mimasaka Local Railroad Tourism Executive Committee)
☎ 0868-22-3310
