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Okazaki is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the coastal plains of southeastern Aichi, famous as the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu, for Hatchō miso and for fireworks. Its top sights are Okazaki Castle, Daiju-ji, Takisan Tōshō-gū, the Hatchō miso breweries and Iga Hachimangū.
The Matsudaira clan, who later rose as the Tokugawa, took Okazaki Castle in 1524, and in the Edo period the town was the seat of Okazaki Domain and the 38th station of the Tōkaidō. Okazaki became a city in 1916, and the air raid of 19 July 1945 destroyed most of its centre.
Okazaki covers 387.20 km² and had an estimated 386,999 people in 2019; about 60 percent of the city is forested hills. Hatchō miso, aged under stacked stones for two years or more, is still brewed beside the Yahagi River. More than 70 percent of Japan's fireworks are designed and made here, and a big fireworks festival lights up the castle area on the first Saturday of August.
Okazaki Castle stands on a terrace above the Otogawa river in Okazaki, Japan, and is the castle where Tokugawa Ieyasu was born. First built in the 1450s and taken by the Matsudaira in 1524, it lost its buildings after 1873, but the keep was rebuilt in 1959 and an east corner turret in 2010.
Mikawa Bushi no Yakata Ieyasu-kan is the history museum in Okazaki Castle Park in Okazaki, Japan, opened on 3 November 1982 with funds partly donated by Toyota. Its galleries tell the story of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Mikawa samurai who served him, and visitors can try on armour.
Daiju-ji is the Jōdo-shū temple founded in 1475 by Matsudaira Chikatada in Okazaki, Japan, as the family temple of the Matsudaira and Tokugawa. Young Ieyasu took refuge here after the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, and it keeps life-size memorial tablets of the Tokugawa shoguns.
Iga Hachimangū is the Shinto shrine that Matsudaira Chikatada moved from Iga Province to Okazaki, Japan, in 1470 as the clan shrine of the Matsudaira. Its main hall was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the hall, the gate of the guardian deities and the stone bridge are Important Cultural Properties.
Takisan-ji is a Tendai temple in the hills of Okazaki, Japan, revived in the 1120s and patronised by Minamoto no Yoritomo. Its main hall is an Important Cultural Property, its treasure hall shows statues attributed to Unkei, and the Oni Matsuri fire festival is held here each February.
Takisan Tōshō-gū is the shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu built in 1646 on the orders of shogun Iemitsu beside Takisan-ji in Okazaki, Japan, and is sometimes counted among Japan's three great Tōshō-gū. Its main hall, worship hall, middle gate, torii and water basin are Important Cultural Properties.
Rokusho Shrine in Okazaki, Japan, was founded by Matsudaira Kiyoyasu and was the guardian shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu's birthplace. Shogun Iemitsu rebuilt its halls in 1634 to 1636, its tower gate dates from 1688, and only lords of 50,000 koku or more could climb its stone steps.
Shinpuku-ji is a Tendai mountain temple in Okazaki, Japan, known as Mikawa Yakushi and said to have been founded in 594 by Mononobe no Masachi. Its Niōmon gate was rebuilt in 1494 after a fire, its grounds hold the oldest ancient temple site in Mikawa, and it is known for bamboo cuisine.
Kakukyū Hatchō Miso is one of the two old miso makers in Hatchō, about 870 m west of Okazaki Castle in Okazaki, Japan, where dark soybean miso ages for over two years in cedar vats under stacked river stones. Its heritage-listed tiled buildings offer free tours with tastings.
Okazaki Higashi Park is a large city park opened in 1928 in Okazaki, Japan, around ponds that were once irrigation reservoirs. It has a free zoo, an iris garden of about 10,000 plants that blooms in June, dinosaur models up to 14 m tall and the 1932 Western-style house of Honda Tadatsugu.
Okazaki City Museum, the city's museum of art and history nicknamed the Mindscape Museum, opened on 6 July 1996 in Okazaki Central Park in Okazaki, Japan. Designed by architect Akira Kuryu, it holds art and cultural property exhibitions year-round, along with films and concerts.
Okutono Jin'ya is the site of the Okutono Domain's administrative residence, completed in 1707, in Okazaki, Japan. Reopened in 1985 with an old study hall moved from a nearby temple, it has a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a restaurant and the graves of the domain's lords, and entry is free.
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