Built under the aegis of Ukita Hideie in 1597, Okayama castle has often gone by the name U-jō (Crow Castle) or Kin-u-jō (Gold Crow Castle) for its forbidding black appearance. Despite surviving the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration and being subsequently placed on a list of national treasures in the 20th century, it was burnt to the ground on June 29th, 1945 in a U.S. air raid. The current, ferro-concrete reconstruction was completed in 1966.