NOT-SO-HIDDEN FORTRESS: NIJO CASTLE

The Nijo Castle was originally built in 1603 as the official residence in Kyoto for Ieyasu, the first first Tokugawa Shogun and wasn't completed until 1626 by the third Shogun Iemitsu.

With its lavish paintings and carvings and impressive use of Edo period designs, the castle is considered the one of the finest examples of Momoyam architecture in all of Japan.

The main structure on the compound is the Ninomaru Palace. This is where the Shoguns met with visiting feudal lords and many of the rooms had elaborately-dressed mannequins to indicate how this kind of scene might have looked. No photos were allowed inside, so I guess you will just have to take my word for it.

One thing you will notice when walking around the interior of the Palace is that the floors are very squeaky. This was actually done by design to keep residents of the Palace aware of intruders.

The grounds of the Castle are home to many beautiful gardens and ponds. Over the next few days we would see a lot of this throughout Kyoto.

You expect every castle to have some sort of moat right? The Nijo Castle has one around its Inner Palace (also called Honmaru Palace).


The roof of the Inner Palace also provides some fantastic views of the compound and its surrounding areas.

A trip to this World Heritage Site is an essential part of any trip to Kyoto. Unfortunately, the annoying "No Photo" rule severely hindered what I could showcase of Nijo Castle on this site.