Before leaving Kyoto on Sunday, Dave and I went to visit Nijo-jo Castle.
The castle was completed in 1603 for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Tokugawa Ieyasu was able to unify Japan and establish period of peace and prosperity for 250 years. Throughout the past 400 years, the castle has continued to witness significant Japanese historical events. In 1994, Nijo-jo Castle was registered on the UNSECO World Hertiage list. This picture is the entrance gate to the outer gardens.
This is the entrance to the interior gardens and castle.
Photos of the inside of the Castle are not permitted. The castle consists of six connected buildings. The interior walls are decorated with beautiful wall paintings and intricate carvings in the hallways connecting the rooms. The best part of walking through the castle was the sound of the squeaky floorboards. The sound is similar to the song of a nightingale and caused by the clamps moving against the nails in the wooden boards and support beams. Unfortunately, according to the brochure, it is a misnomer the squeak was intended to announce the presence of intruders. Oh, well. It’s a fun theory.
The gardens were beautiful. The islands represent a crane and turtle. Symbols of longevity.
Hopefully, from these pictures you can see the expanse of the castle.
From the base of the keep tower that burned down after a lightning strike in 1750, a view of the castle and Kyoto were visible.
We finished our walk around the gardens.
Check out the fall color popping out on the Japanese Maples. Dare we dream of fall!?!
As we left, we were able to walk through a water mister. Ahhhh…
We took the 11:58 Shinkansen back to Tokyo. As per a request from one of my readers, I took a picture of the inside.
And our cute bento boxes for the ride home.
