a couple of weeks ago i got to hang out with a good friend from vegas who now lives in japan with his awesome wife and kid. not only did they let me crash at their place for a couple days while i was temporarily homeless, but they also took me around and showed me some of the neat places okayama (岡山) had to offer.

kourakuen park, okayama (岡山の後楽園)

we first went to a famous park/garden called kourakuen (後楽園) where my friends, incidentally, got their wedding pictures taken years before. kourakuen is one of the Three Great Gardens in japan (日本三名園), and it was easily apparent why it was so highly thought of; it was definitely one of the most beautiful parks ive seen in japan.

vegas friends in japan!!

though the park was absolutely beautiful, the incredibly hot and humid weather made it quite unbearable to walk around it for very long. luckily for us, the comfortably air-conditioned okayama castle (岡山城) was just on the other side of the park. it was neat to look at from the outside, but all of the modern conveniences like elevators and AC were constant reminders that the original had unfortunately been destroyed in world war 2, and that we were only experiencing a reconstruction. that being said, it was still fun to walk around and explore it with good friends.

okayama castle (岡山城)