Nijo Castle
The Nijo Castle is a symbol of the
power
of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Its construction was ordered by the first
Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu, in 1603, when he ordered all feudal lords of
western Japan to aid in its construction. It was completed by the third
shogun, Iemitsu, in 1626, and served as the Kyoto residence of the
shogunate. It is a sprawling complex, as shown in the diagram to the
left. There is an inner and outer aspect to the Nijo complex. The outer
section, shown in the bottom half, contains most of the sites shown on
this page while the inner palace, the top portion surrounded by a moat,
was the original home of the Tokugawa shoguns. Visitors to Nijo Castle
enter through the Higashi-Ote-mon or Eastern main gate, which
is the entrance shown at the bottom of the diagram. The photo to the
right shows the eastern entrance. The total area of the castle is
275,000 square meters; 7,300 square meters are occupied by buildings.
The eastern gate is spanned by a
wide
moat and defended by high stone walls. The photo to the left shows the
walkway across the moat leading to the eastern entrance, while the
photo to the right is an interior shot of the Higashi-Ote-mon
gate. As you can see, the foundation of both the walls and gate are
stone, with wooden roofed walkways constructed over them. This was a
weak point in the construction, as parts of the palace have burned
down, owing once to lightning and again owing to a city-wide fire. The
last rebuilding effort took place in 1867.
To the side of
the Higashi-Ote-mon gate is a guardhouse, shown in the photo to
the left. It was and is still used as a place to regulate the flow of
visitors into the castle. Today it also houses an exhibition center,
displaying the costumes of the castle guards and other castle
attendants
during the Tokugawa period. Winding your way to the left from the guard
house will bring you to the Kara Mon or Chinese Gate, the
entrance to Ninomaru Palace. The photo to the right shows the exterior
shot of the Kara Mon gate, while the photo to the
lower left
shows the small courtyard and the interior view of that gate. Across
the courtyard is the Ninomaru Palace, shown in the photo to the lower
right. This
palace consists of five buildings, with 33 rooms and 800 Tatami mats.
It is almost entirely
constructed of Japanese cypress. It is decorated with paintings on the
sliding doors and walls; each room is painted 
by a
different master
from
the Kano school. The transoms above the sliding doors are carved
from massive cypress blocks. The rooms are laid out in an interesting
fashion with each separate building subdivided into several rooms with
different purposes. The further into the castle one goes, the more
secure the rooms. The walkways pass on both sides of the buildings,
allowing each building to serve more than one function. Thus the first
rooms in the palace (the Willow Room and the Young Pine Room) are
adjacent to the tenth room. The first two rooms are used to check the
identity of visitors to the shogun, while the last room is the Imperial
Messenger's Office. Unfortunately, there are no photos or videos
allowed in the palace. Here is a summary of the main palace rooms:
Tozamurai-no-ma (Retainers Room): decorated with leopards and tigers, this room served as a waiting chambers for visiting lords
Shikidai-no-ma (Reception Room): decorated with massive ancient pine trees painted by Kano Tan'yu, this was where the visiting lords were received by the shogun's ministers
Ohiroma San-no-ma (Third Grand Chamber): the waiting room for the Tozama Daimyo (independent lords), it features transoms made of solid cypress carved with different designs, as well as metal nail covers of gold plated copper.
Ohiroma Ich-no-ma (First and Second Grand Chambers): these two chambers served as the most important official audience rooms in the palace. The interior design, incorporating bold forms of pines and a lavish use of gold and lacquer, was intended to overwhelm visiting feudal lords with the power and authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Behind the sliding doors with beautiful red tassels is a room called Muska-kakushi-no-ma; here bodyguards stood to protect the Shogun. These chambers were used in 1867 by the fifteenth Tokugawa Shogun to announce the restoration of sovereignty to the emperor, bringing the Tokugawa Shogunate to an end.
Kuro-Shoin (Inner Audience Chamber): the audience chamber of the inner place; here the shogun granted interviews to the Daimyos who were closest in blood relations. The beautiful paintings on the sliding doors and walls were executed by Kano Naonobu, a younger brother of Kano Tan'yu
Shiro-Shoin (Shogun's Living Quarters): the innermost (and most secure) chambers in Ninomaru Palace, located at the farthest distance from the palace entrance. The paintings on the wall were executed by Kano Koi. The restful scenes of mountains and water were designed to create a relaxing atmosphere; another stress reliever was no doubt the fact that only female attendants were allowed entry. This part of the palace was further protected by the Uguisu-Bari, or Nightingale Floor. From the entrance to the palace to the Grand Chamber (below) the wooden floors squeak whenever anyone walks upon them. When someone walks on the floor, clamps under the floor joints move up and down, creating friction between it and the nails and clamps that hold them in place, creating a sound like a Nightingale that would alert the Shogun of an intruder
Ohiroma Ya-no-ma (Fourth Grand Chamber): in this room were kept the Shogun's spears, swords, and other weapons. The screen paintings of pine trees and hawks by Kano Tan'yu are appropriate symbols of the military prowess. One of the pine branches is 11 meters long.
A Overview of Niromaru
Palace by Amy Moncure
In
keeping with traditional Japanese garden design, the Ninomaru Garden is
conceived around a larger central pond (right) and contains stones in a
variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. In the center of the pond are
three islands: Hori-jima (Island of Eternal Happiness), Tsuru-jima
(Crane Island), and Kame-jimaOhiroma
San-no-ma (Turtle Island). The design of
the garden is attributed to the renowned tea master and landscape
artist Kobori Enshu. The photo to the left shows the location relative
to the Ninomaru Palace; the building in the background is the Ohiroma
San-no-ma or Third Grand Chamber.