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Okazaki City does have a tourist information office. Unfortunately (as of 2004) it is well hidden on an upper floor on the Fukushi Kaikan building across the road from the City Hall. As a general rule the staff do not speak any foreign languages, but they have copies of almost every brochure, book, pamphlet or map produced that you may find useful. For the most part, tourism promotion in Okazaki City is focussed on the major festivals and as a result caters to a largely domestic and regional market, however this is starting to change, and there some useful illustration guide maps and other materials available.
The office is also useful for confirming the dates and locations of some of the smaller local festivals and cultural events, many of which are not usually published in the official "Okazaki" magazine (published monthly by the City Hall in Japanese only) or the sometimes excellent newsletter called Okazaki News (published fortnightly in Japanese and English by the volunteers of the Okazaki International Association. It is possible to pick up free copies of Okazaki News at a number of shops in town or have them mailed to you by subscription. The contact details are on the OIA homepage.
Another useful source of information is the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (located across the road from the AEON shopping complex). While the chamber does not operate a tourist information office per se, the staff are exceedingly helpful and it is the best place to go to if you wish to contact and observe the brilliant craftsmen who are preserving so many of the city's traditions - for example if you wanted to see bamboo arrows being handmade etc. Most of the people involved in arts and crafts belong to organized groups with close links to the chamber, and the chamber itself is a little more pro-active in promoting tourism than the public sector offices.
PDF Downloads
You can also download below a number of English and Japanese language versions (in pdf format) of interesting guides.
Tokaido - Fujikawa (pdf format, 130KB). To see the same content as webpage,
please go to Tokaido - Fujikawa
Covers a 2 kilometer long section of the old Tokaido highway route as it passes through the post town of Fujikawa (juku #37) to the southeast
27
Turns (pdf format, 280KB). To see the same content as webpage, please go to
27 Turns
Another section about 5 kilometers long that covers the so called "27 Turns" of the Tokaido as it winds through Okazaki City (juku #38) to the Yahagi bridge.
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