Kakumeikan Hall
Located near Okayama Korakuen’s Main Gate, the Kakumeikan Hall currently serves as a hall for various meetings and events. The house is also connected by corridors to surrounding buildings including the Enyotei House and the Eisho-no-ma Room.
The current building was constructed in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1892 and was relocated to Okayama Korakuen in 1949 after the original building was destroyed in the 1945 air raids. The original building, dating from the seventeenth century, featured a thatched roof and had several different rooms to accommodate guests and family members of the daimyo lord when they visited the garden.
After ownership of the garden was transferred to Okayama Prefecture in 1884, the building was named Kakumeikan, or “crane cry house,” because the cries of the Crane Aviary can be heard there. During the Meiji era (1868–1912), the building was refurbished with a large hall the size of 150 tatami mats that could be used to host large groups of people. Between 1884 and 1909, the hall was used for the Okayama Prefectural Assembly.
The current building is similar to the previous one in terms of proportions, but it features a tiled roof and was constructed in the style of a traditional samurai residence.