Old Castle

Nijo-jo Castle

The day before yesterday, our time, meaning before the previous post, we walked to the nearby imperial castle to tour its buildings and gardens. This double-moated fortress was built 400 years ago by and for the Tokugawa Shogunate that led a period of peace and prosperity. The structures are made with huge ornate wooden beams, richly carved and painted and ornamented. The castle is still used occasionally for festive and official events.

The entry gates established status for the residents. All decorations were symbolic.

The outer palace consists of a staggered line of rooms for reception of visitors and living quarters. The famous “nightingale floors” make musical creaks as you walk, intending to allow no sneak attacks. The walls are painted in huge simple murals, and the floors are covered in plain tatami mats, like everywhere here.

No photos were allowed inside. And all visitors had to take off shoes and walk in stocking feet to tour the buildings. That applies to temples, too, and many smaller businesses who do offer you slippers if you don’t carry your own.

The inner Palace, set in its own gardens within its own moat and fortified walls, was actually moved to the site from another area, replacing a former palace there.

This is the top of a huge bell, where people leave offerings, “In case a passing deity needs a little something.”

The formal gardens on the grounds are set out in specific sections, like plum grove and rock garden and lake garden. They are astoundingly beautiful. They are also labor intensive, but worth the effort, I would say.

Pleasure gardens indeed.