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Nijo Castle

Cradle and Tombstone of the Shogunate

In 1603, Nijo Castle was built by Ieyasu Tokugawa, and it eventually becomes today's size by the expansion of his descendants. The Nijo Castle Honmaru-goten Palace was destroyed by fire, and part of the old Katsura-goten Palace was later moved to this site. The perfectly preserved Ninomaru-goten Palace is a national treasure of Japan.

Nijo Castle 二条城 (Nijo-jo) is located in the Nijo district of Kyoto. 1603 saw the partial completion of Nijo Castle’s Ninomaru-goten Palace as his residence in Kyoto on the orders of Ieyasu Tokugawa. 1624 saw the expansion of Nijo Castle by Iemitsu Tokugawa, the third Tokugawa shogun, with the Honmaru Tenshukaku, Honmaru-goten Palace, Ninomaru-goten Palace, and Many gates and yagura turrets were built during this period, forming the present size.

In 1867, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the fifteenth shogun, held a ceremony of Taisei Houkan (大政奉還) to return the authority to the Imperial Court in Nijomaru-goten Palace in Nijo Castle, bringing an end to the Tokugawa Shogunate era.

Ninomaru Area

Ninomaru, or the Second Ward, is an area between the outer moat and inner moat of Nijo Castle, and is used to guard the safety of the Honmaru, the Inner Ward. After passing through a Intricately Carved Karamon Gate, the Ninomaru-goten Palace appears in front of you.

In a Japanese castle complex, the Palace (Goten) is where the lord of the castle lived and rested, and the interior and exterior decorations are the most luxurious in the entire castle, and Ninomaru-goten Palace is no exception. In the history of Nijo Castle, there were many fires, but Ninomaru-goten Palace miraculously escaped each of them and has been preserved until today, making it a national treasure of Japan.

Ninomaru-goten Palace consists of six buildings arranged diagonally from each other, including the Tozamurai, the Shikidai, the Ohiroma, the Sotetsu-no-ma, the Kuro-shoin, and the Shiro-shoin. There are 33 rooms in the Ninomaru-goten Palace, and the screen wall paintings used to divide the rooms are all by the hands of famous artists of the Kano school.

To ensure the safety of the castle lord and to prevent assassins from sneaking in, Nightingale Floors (Uguisubari) are set up inside the palace everywhere. This innovative design has become one of the main attractions of Nijo Castle, as the floor beneath your feet will chirp like a songbird with every step you take.

Honmaru-goten Area

The inner moat on the west side of Ninomaru is more than 20 meters wide, and the area enclosed by it is the Honmaru, the Inner Ward. The area is about two hectares in size, and was originally built with a five-story Tensukaku and a magnificent Honmaru-goten Place comparable to the Ninomaru-goten Palace. The Tensukaku was destroyed by lightning in 1750, and only the Ruins of the Tensukaku, which was built of boulders, remains. Soon afterward, the Honmaru-goten Palace also collapsed in the Great Fire of Kyoto in 1788.

In 1893, the old Katsura-no-miya-goten Palace, originally located in the Kyoto Gosho (Kyoto Imperial Palace), was moved here and presented to the world as a new Honmaru-goten Palace. It was built in 1847 and is the only fully preserved royal palace in Japan.

Gardens in the Castle

In front of both Honmaru-goten Palace and Ninomaru-goten Palace, there are gardens that can be viewed from inside the rooms. The Ninomaru Garden has existed since Tokugawa Ieyasu moved in, and the Honmaru Garden was once destroyed by fire and then restored in the Meiji period.

In Nijo Castle, there are also many viewing gardens such as Seiryu-en 清流園 and Cherry Blossom Garden, and Nijo Castle is famous for its many varieties of cherry blossoms.

Gates and Yagura Turrets

Built in 1662, the Higashi-Ote-mon, the Great Eastern Gate, is the main gate of Nijo Castle, and the nearly 30-meter-wide gate looks impressive.

Built in 1625 and survived to this day, the Southeast Yagura Turret is one of the few remaining yagura turrets in Nijo Castle that has not been burned down and rebuilt. Since you can see it from the street without buying a ticket, it has become one of the landmarks of Nijo Castle and a place where many tourists take pictures.