Nijō Castle 🇯🇵

Nijō Castle is a flatland castle complex situated in Kyoto, Japan, covering 275,000 square meters, with buildings occupying 8,000 square meters of the site. Designated by UNESCO as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, the site consists of two concentric rings of defensive structures, several gardens, auxiliary buildings, the Ninomaru Palace, and the ruins and current structures of the Honmaru Palace.

Commissioned in 1601 by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a Kyoto residence for the Tokugawa shōguns, the castle was finished in 1626 under Tokugawa Iemitsu. Construction absorbed land and water from the neighboring Shinsenen Garden to the south and incorporated moved components from Fushimi Castle. Located southwest of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijō Castle endured significant fire damage over the centuries; a lightning strike destroyed its central keep in 1750, and a 1788 fire cleared the inner ward. In 1867, Ninomaru Palace served as the location where Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced the return of authority to the Imperial Court. The property transitioned into an imperial detached palace before being gifted to the city of Kyoto in 1939 and opening to visitors the following year.

The layout features outer and inner walls, each surrounded by a wide moat. The outer wall contains two corner turrets and four gates, including the Minamimon built in 1915 for an imperial visit. Within the outer ward lies the 3,300-square-meter Ninomaru Palace, constructed from Hinoki cypress and comprising six connected buildings designated as National Treasures. Decorated with gold leaf, detailed wood carvings, and Kanō school paintings, the palace includes various reception halls, bodyguard rooms, and the shōgun's private quarters. Its hallways feature "nightingale floors" that make chirping sounds when walked on due to iron clamps rubbing against nails beneath the floorboards.

The inner ward contains the 1,600-square-meter Honmaru Palace, an architectural complex built in the late Edo period style. Relocated from the Kyoto Imperial Enclosure between 1893 and 1894, it features artwork by masters such as Kanō Eigaku and served as the venue for Emperor Hirohito's enthronement banquet in 1928. Surrounding the palaces are groves of cherry and plum trees along with notable gardens. These include the Ninomaru garden, designed by tea master Kobori Enshū with topiary pines and a pond holding three islands, and the northern Seiryū-en garden, constructed in 1965 with two tea houses and over 1,000 arranged stones for official events.

Nijō Castle in pictures