How to get to Korakuen Garden by tram from Okayama Station for an Okayama stopover in Japan

Kon’nichiwa!

You can get to Korakuen Garden from Okayama Station by tram or bus.

I made a stopover in Okayama while on my way to Shikoku from Kyoto, arriving by shinkansen, and during that time I went to Korakuen Garden and Okayama Castle. I’m here to give you the visual of how to get to the famous Okayama garden from the train station! The castle is just across the moat from the garden, so it’s convenient to do both together.

I was in Okayama for just over 4 hours. This is from the moment I stepped off the shinkansen, to the time I went back through the ticket gate to get on another train. I took it easy around the garden and castle.

It’s also reasonable to stop in Okayama when traveling between Kyoto and Hiroshima, as it’s a shinkansen stop.

The Korakuen Garden bus was actually pretty easy to locate upon leaving the train station. I wasn’t even looking for it, and I ended up being right at it. I was standing around, and then, “Oh, there’s the bus to the garden!” (There’s a sign.)

Except, at that point we were actually first looking for the momotaro statue (“peach boy”).

And also, Okayama has a tram (streetcar). I think taking the tram is the fun way to get around! So just as I wanted to take the tram in Hiroshima and Hakodate, I wanted to take the tram in Okayama too!

The Okayama bus is a simple way to get to the garden in terms of it being right at Okayama Station, and it drops you off right in front of the garden.

The Okayama tram is extra walking on both sides, but it has more frequent timings compared to the bus.

Whether you decide on the bus or tram, I think google maps is the easy way to navigate to figure out where the stops are located. It works for both the bus and tram.

I took the tram in Okayama to get to Korakuen Garden, and therefore also to the Okayama Castle since it’s right “next door.” I’ll show you a bit of what the tram is like below!

 

There are partner websites included on this blog.

 

 

So upon arriving at Okayama Station, you’ll first follow the signs to the exit.

Since we were traveling with luggage, our first stop was locating the coin lockers. Exiting the shinkansen ticket gate, there were coin lockers immediately to the left. So they were quite easy to find… if you are looking around! They are also quite easy to miss. There’s also manned baggage if you look immediately to the right as you exit the ticket gate.

We put our luggage in the coin lockers, and then made our way to the exit. There were signs for Korakuen Garden, so it was quite easy to know which way to go.

We made our way outside the station taking the east exit. To go straight to the tram stop, head left, and follow the path around to get you to the “middle” of the main road. The tram stop is on an “island” in the center of the street.

Because the area right outside the train station is a big a bus terminal, there really aren’t crosswalks to get to the other side straight ahead of you, even though that’s where you need to go. Since we went in search of the momotaro statue first, we ended up using an underground pedestrian pathway to get to the tram stop. So just know that stairs going down can lead you to the other side of the street!

 

👆 I arrived at Okayama Station by shinkansen!

See more of the visual with my walk-through of getting from Kyoto to Okayama by bullet train.

 

👆 Follow the signs to the shinaksen ticket gate exit. Welcome to Okayama!

 

👆 We put our luggage in the coin lockers just outside the Okayama shinkansen ticket gate.

 

👆 There’s a big sign telling you which side of the train station to exit for Korakuen Garden, so you don’t even need to remember that it’s the east exit. This is the same direction as Okayama Castle.

 

👆 Just follow the signs!

 

👆 There’s an escalator leading to the east exit of Okayama Station.

 

👆 Once you’re outside, you can continue to follow signs. There is a sign in English directing you to the tram stop, although they call it a street car. It’s the same thing.

 

👆 You can stop by the momotaro statue. Momotaro (“peach boy“) is a famous Japanese folktale said to have its origins in Okayama.

 

👆 The tram stop is a sheltered area in the middle of the road.

 

 

 

The tram stop near Okayama Station is called “Okayama-Ekimae.” This is the start/end of the tram line so there is only one direction it goes. The tram stop you get off at for Korakuen Garden and Okayama Castle is the stop called “Shiroshita.” This is a 5 minute tram ride so don’t get too comfortable!

The Okayama tram fare is 160 yen per ride, which is just over US$1. Confirm the current fare.

I think the easiest way to pay for the tram fare is with an IC card so you can just tap and go without needing to deal with cash. You can use the same suica card that you bought in Tokyo or the same icoca card that you bought in Kyoto or Osaka. You need to tap the IC card BOTH when you get on the tram AND when you get off.

If you don’t have an IC card, you can pay in cash. You’ll need exact change, and there is a coin exchange machine where you can insert 1,000 yen bills to get coins. When paying in cash, you don’t need to do anything when you get on, and you’ll pay when you get off.

Pay attention for when your stop is next, as you’ll need to press the “stop” button to alert the driver that people want to get off. There will be an announcement and you can follow along on google maps with gps. You’ll exit at the front of the tram.

 

👆 The Okayama Ekimae tram stop near the train station.

 

👆 You can check out the map of where you can go by tram. Get off at the Shiroshita stop to go to Okayama Castle, Okayama Korakuen Garden, and Yumeji Art Museum.

 

👆 Cute Okayama tram! 😁

 

👆 Look for the spot to tap your IC card as you get on the tram.

 

👆 Tap your IC card here.

 

👆 Inside the tram with pretty comfortable seats.

 

👆 Inside the tram, there is a digital sign that says get off at the Shiroshita stop for Korakuen, Okayama Castle, and the culture zone.

 

👆 The current fare is posted. 160 yen for adults, and 80 yen for kids.

 

👆 Press the button when Shiroshita stop is next. It will light up.

 

👆 This is the coin exchange machine you’ll find at the front and back of the tram. It can break 1000 yen bills.

 

👆 Once the tram has arrived at the Shiroshita stop, you’ll go to the front of the tram and tap your IC card on the way out. If you’re paying in cash, there’s a spot to insert coins. This is the same machine you can break 1000 yen bills.

 

With a quick stop at the Okayama Shrine along the way, it took me around 15-20 minutes to get from the tram stop to the Korakuen Garden entrance.

As soon as you get off the tram at Shiroshita stop, you’ll see stairs going down. Take the stairs to get to the other side through the underground pedestrian pathway. Look for signs to get back to street level. There are a couple of signs to the garden as you are walking so you will likely be able to manage, but google maps may be helpful just to confirm you’re going the right way!

 

👆 The stairs to the underground pedestrian walkway are at the Shiroshita tram stop.

 

👆 Once you’re underground, look for signs going up to the garden. There’s a bathroom in this underground area too.

 

👆 You can take a look at the Okayama tourist map for confidence that you’re going the right way!

 

👆 I made a very small detour down a side street to go for quick walk around Okayama Shrine!

 

👆 Look for signs as you walk.

 

👆 Walk across the bridge to go to the garden!

 

👆 Look for the garden entrance sign. While this is pretty obvious, we actually walked right past it. 😅

 

👆 Take your time walking around what’s considered one of Japan’s top 3 gardens! (It was a bit brown when I went in March.)

 

Once you have finished up walking around Korakuen Garden, you can make your way to the south exit. This is the quickest and easiest way to Okayama Castle.

Along the way, you’ll pass by a small cafe called Hekisuien. I stopped by here and ate black sesame soba with castle views!

Just past the cafe is the Yuejian Bridge that you cross to get to the castle side of the water.

You can walk around the grounds of the castle for free, and there’s an entry fee to actually go inside the castle.

If you’re planning to go to both the garden and make the castle entry, you can buy a combo ticket that includes admission to both. This is 720 yen (US$5).

 

👆 The castle is on the other side of the river!

 

👆 Take the south gate exit of the garden to start walking towards the castle.

 

👆 After leaving the garden, I stopped for black sesame soba to eat with views of Okayama Castle!

 

👆 Cross the bridge to go to the castle!

 

👆 You can go to the top of the Okayama Castle tower.

 

After finishing up at the castle, we walked to the Shiroshita tram stop to go back to Okayama Station.

Upon returning to train station, we got our luggage from the coin lockers, and then made our way to Shikoku! First up was another quick stopover, this time for Marugame Castle, and then for an overnight stay in Kotohira. After that, we went to Takamatsu and Shodoshima… and then back to the mainland by ferry to Kobe!

 

I went to Okayama in March 2026. Your experience may vary!