[aw-kah-yah-mah] 
| a city on SW Honshu, in SW Japan. 545,737. |
| O·ka·ya·ma (ō'kä-yä'mä) A city of western Honshu, Japan, on an inlet of the Inland Sea west of Kobe. It is an industrial center and a railroad hub. Population: 676,000. |
Okayama
city and prefecture (ken), western Honshu, Japan, bordering the Inland Sea, includes numerous offshore islands. Okayama prefecture has a predominantly agricultural economy. Rice, grapes, peaches, igusa (rushes for tatami mats), cotton, and other cash crops are grown in the south, where farm techniques and mechanization are among the most advanced in Japan. The economy in the interior mountains, however, is poor and largely dependent upon forestry and small-scale cattle raising. Manufacturing is concentrated in such southern cities as Okayama, Kurashiki, and Tamanoi. Mizushima district in Okayama prefecture developed extensively during the 1960s. Oil refineries and automobile, petrochemical, and steel factories were built on reclaimed land
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kɑˈyɑ