Day 6 in Kyoto - Nijo Castle

Its a beautiful sunny morning in Kyoto. As the castle is only a 15 minute walk from the hotel we decide to enjoy the sunshine and the attractive streetscape. The main Streets in the centre of the city are impressive wide boulevards with wide footpaths used by cyclists more than pedestrians. It's not unusual to see immaculately dressed men and women, young and old, pedalling steadily along often whilst talking on their mobiles. When it rains they just hold an umberalla in one hand. No need for that today!











Nijo was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu and completed by the third shogun, Iemitsu, in 1626.





The castle contains the amazing
Ninomaru Palace which consists of 33 stunning rooms occupying 33,000 square metres. Elegant, exquisite! The palace uses 'Nightingale floors' in the corridors which 'chirp' when walked on so as to prevent undesirables (Ninja?) from sneaking in and possibly bringing harm to the person of the Shogun. This amazing design stll works fine- with all the hordes of fellow tourists walking along the corridors (shoes off) it sounded like a whole flock of nightingales!





The surrounding grounds also include a variety of gardens and ponds all this contained behind a huge stone wall and moat.

From the castle we kept walking on to Nijo station on the JE Line

More photos of Nijo
-- Post From Geoff's iPhone