Kyoto Tour- Nijo Castle

An important thing to remember when visiting historical sites is that time does generally have an effect on everything. Kyoto may not have been bombed in WWII but it has been wrecked plenty of times - most notably by fire.

Most (but not all) of the buildings I saw were damaged by fire at some stage or another. Several were completely accurate reconstructions, others were simply rebuilt differently while these buildings were still in common use.

In Nijo Castle, we were not permitted to take pictures of the interior for multiple reasons. The cynical reason is that it damages copyright, the plausible one is that camera flashes (And don't say you should just tell people to turn it off because that invariably never works) damage the ancient, faded and peeling paintings.

First lets be clear, these gates are enormous. All of these buildings are pretty damn big and imposing. Seeing as this was intended to be a quasi-fortress it makes perfect sense really. The shogun made his residence in Tokyo so this castle was more of a second home for him.

This castle, built as a show of power as well as the practical reasons, was established in 1602 by the famous/infamous samurai Tokugawa Ieyasu.
(A problem I have with this dynastic founder is that pop culture loves him depicts him a million diffent ways such as here, here, here, here and here. Like any other significant Sengoku era individual, he has been appropirated by popular culture to the extent that snickering invariably issues forth.)

Nijo Castle was the official Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ieyasu made his 'home base' in Edo. The Nijo fortress was a deliberate challenge to the Chrysanthemum throne built with the main gate unusually facing the Imperial Palace. While they did not try to unthrone the Emperor the powers of the throne, court and religious factions were duly restricted by the Shogunate who was the defacto ruler of Japan until 1867.

...and we can't take pictures inside. Boo. :C

We had to remove our shoes and place them on the racks you see there to go inside here. This is the internal living and business area - Ninomaru Palace. To enter we had to pass several buildings including the guardhouse where Samurai had to leave their swords. XD No-one gets in to see the Shogun with their Katana.

This is where I walked on the famous Nightingale Floor.  (Regarding the video. Someone was naugh~ty. >:3)The floor itself does not look any different than the floors anywhere else. Personally, I think that's what makes it so clever. It's certainly not the only such floor in Japan but it may be the most famous.

This particular floor surrounds what would have been the 'public offices' of the Shogunate. It certainly doesn't go near the residential section. I think you'd get used to it quickly enough but it seems the Boss-man was having none of that near his sleeping quarters.

The building is raised up from the ground so outside you can peer underneath (Or, eum,  just jab a camera in there) and see the nails. These hinges are the secret to how the floor works. In short, pressure makes them 'sing'.  Cheaper than keeping an aviary down there, that's for sure. =.=

I couldn't take pictures of the interior but I did shell out for a glossy book full of pictures of the paintings.(Among other things.) It was particularly interesting how the themes in each room reflected the intended purpose.

The earlier waiting rooms, for example, were decorated with full wall panels of tigers and leopards intending to create an intimidating atmosphere while the residential quarters were decorated with soothing landscapes. Not that these animals were native to Japan at all but it seems that they were painted from skins bought from Chinese merchants.

It should be noted that it took several waiting rooms and meetings wirh retainers and officials before these men were admitted into the presence of the Shogun. It might smack of paranoia but seeing as this man seized power through force of arms and pissed off a lot of people I'd say it was just good sense really.

Of course the paintings, while a fascinating example of early modern art schools in Japan were stuffed full of symbolism and other things I'm far, far too lazy to get into or scrunch my brow over. I think you've got the essential idea there.

Here you can see one of the walkways that surrounded the building. The kitchen was, naturally enough, in a completely seperate building so if I was going to assassinate me some Tokugawa I'd infiltrate there with some delicious poison rather than deal with the nightingale floor. This is where the servants would carry the food around. (Walk inside? They were servants.)This was where we got to peer in the darkness at the hinges underneath. (I would also consider sabotage here. :3)

Parts of the palace are not opened to the public and certain parts are only opened seasonally. Nonetheless we saw some of the carefully designed gardens.

I believe this section is the Ninomaru Gardens and is designed as a 'strolling garden'. I certainly found it striking even if I did not fully understand what it was supposed to be representing and the guidebook has misleading phrasing.

Nevertheless this is titled 'Isle of Eternal Youth' fashioned by Enshu (Who it seems aside from landscaping was famed for calligraphy and tea ceremony) The cranes weren't there when we looked.

I imagine that all of these places must be something to see in the seasonal colours but I sincerely doubt you'd see much of anything with the crowds.

So, Nijo Castle. Nice Digs.