The Nijo-jo Castle saw the beginning of the shogun period of power in Japan (1603) and its end (1867). Today it is an UNESCO World Heritage site, well worth viewing. I recommend visiting when the humidity is well below 90%, as it was for me.
The castle has not one but two moats, each a brilliant green and filled with carp (koi). The outer moat protects palace number one, the Nimomaru-goten Palace. Moat number two inside the first moat protects palace number two, the Honmaru-goten Palace. I just toured the first palace as I began to wilt in the heat, even with the presence of a few fans in the palace. In the 17th century, all the shoji screens were apparently opened to catch the breeze. Modern day tourists must suffer with closed shoji screens, to preserve these 400 year old buildings. That aside, it was fascinating to view the place, laid out in step stone fashion.
Visitors to the castle were first entertained in a large reception room decorated with tigers. My audio tour guide helpfully pointed out there were no tigers in Japan in 1603. So why paint them on the walls? Yes they were foreign, but their fierceness was a signal of the shogun's power. In rooms where the shogun held court, he sat a step above his audience, and the roof over him was higher than his underlings. But he did not site on a throne. The shogun had several receiving rooms depending on the status of his guests. He also had a small sitting room where he could slide his doors closed for a little me time.
While the wall paintings are reproductions (the real paints are in a nearby gallery) they still stun with their vibrancy. Inspired by nature, the subject of the paintings were also symbolic. Tigers, pine trees, hawks, cranes, peonies, crysanthemums, cypress, willows, and even mountain scenes from China are featured, many with gold leaf. The floors are special too - they were meant to sound like nightingales when trod upon.
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