Kyoto's largest and best preserved castle, Nijo-jo was built in 1603 as the residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of a united Japan. After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was then used as an imperial palace before being donated to the city as an historic site. Surrounded by stone walls and moats, the palace buildings are considered the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994. With its moats, walls, secret passageways and hidden chambers, the heavily fortified castle stands as a defiant symbol of the power the shogun, or warlords, once held over the emperor during the Edo Period, and can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and beautiful Ninomaru gardens that were designed by garden master Kobori Enshu. A visit to Ninomaru Palace reveals spectacular artworks, including painted screens and intricate gold leaf ceilings,a s well as 'nightingale' floors, the squeaking floorboards that were designed to alert the shogun’s bodyguards to the presence of intruders.
Main entrance gate to Nijo Castle
The Chinese styled Karamon Gate marks the entrance to Ninomaru Palace
Finely carved cranes under the front gable of the arch which is a symbol of happiness
and eternal youth
Ninomaru Palace was the residence of Tokugawa during his visits to Kyoto, and consists of multiple separate buildings that are connected with each other by corridors with so called nightingale floors, as they squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders
Nijo Castle Audience Chamber
Flowering Cherry Tree screen detail from the Second Chamber of the Shogun's Kuro-Shoin
Screen painting of Tiger and Leopard from the Tozamurai - a waiting room for visiting daimyo lords
Exterior of the castle with gravel path leading to the Ninomaru Gardens
Designed by garden master Kobori Enshu, Ninomaru Gardens are a miniature landscape with large pond, ornamental stones, and manicured pine trees, originally built to impress daimyo lords
One of four beautiful stone bridges in the garden which are symbolic
of connecting one world to another
Inner Moat Bridge to the ruins of Honmaru Palace which was the personal residence
of the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun
Ippodo Tea Shop in Kyoto has been in the business since 1717
Usucha matcha tea, which is a thinner Matcha in the Uppoda Tea Room
Matcha Tea is prepared using a bamboo whisk
Traditionally, matcha was enjoyed in a formal tea ceremony setting as a thick, intense, almost paste-like tea like this Koicha
Japanese-style wagashi or sweets are always served with match tea like this one styled as half of a sweet potato
Flower shaped wagashi made with a combination of mochi, which is pounded rice,
and anko, which is azuki sweet red bean paste
Sliced in half one can see the sweet red bean paste inside
Matcha Mizu Yokan made from white beans and Japanese green Matcha tea
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