Nijo Castle, Kyoto

Nijo Castle is a castle in Kyoto, Japan. It is rather different from other castles built during the feudal period of the country, in that it is on flat land and is without the usual grand fortifications. The castle does have two concentric rings of walls. Within are the Ninomaru Palace, the ruined Honmaru Palace, and other buildings and gardens.

Nijo Castle was built by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) to symbolize the power and wealth of the newly established Edo-based shogunate. The best painters of the Kano School were commissioned by Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu to work on the reception hall, to prepare it for the visit of the emperor. Ironically, a few centuries later, that was also the venue for the last Tokugawa shogun to resign, in the presence of Emperor Meiji.

Apart from the exquisite landscape paintings embellishing the walls, created by the Kano School painters, another outstanding feature of Nijo Castle, particularly Ninomaru Palace, is its flooring, called nightingale floors. The floors make a bird-like squeak when you step on them. They were installed as a form of medieval alarm system against possible intruders.

Nijo Castle, Kyoto

How to reach Nijo Castle

Take the subway to the Nijojo-mae Station. The entrance is on Horikawa-dori.

360° View on Google Maps Street View

Moat, Nijo Castle.

Nijo Castle.

Nijo Castle.

Gateway, Nijo Castle.

Entrance from the moat, Nijo Castle.

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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

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