Nijo Castle 二条城 니조성 UNESCO World Heritage

Nijo Castle was built by the Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, in 1603 to protect Kyoto Imperial Palace and as a residence for the shogun when he visited Kyoto. It was completed in 1626 by the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, who used the remains of castles such as Fushimi Castle to complete it.

With the castle built by Ieyasu and the sculptures and paintings comissioned by Iemitsu, one is able to get a glimpse into what is called the Momoyama Period(1624-1643) style.
It was a Castle that witnessed not only the rise and fall of the Tokugawa, but also overlooked changes in Japanese History.

At the present-day Nijo Castle there are three gardens, the Ninomaru Garden, constructed during the Edo period（1603–1868）, the Honmaru Garden, constructed in the Meiji period（1868–1912）, and Seiryu-en Garden, which was constructed in the Showa period（1926–1989） . In 2005 in the American magazine of Japanese gardens, the ‘Journal of Japanese Gardening’ out of 693 outstanding gardens chosen in Japan, Seiryu-en Garden came 5th position and the Ninomaru Garden was placed 10th. Then in 2006 Seiryu-en Garden was ranked 6th and the Ninomaru Garden ranked 8th out of 731 gardens all over Japan.

Ninomaru Garden 
6 building form a diagonal line from southeast to northwest, continuing from the Kurumayose (entranceway), Tozamurai (guard house), Shikidai (reception room), Ohiroma (great hall), Sotetsu-no-ma (a room of cycad), Kuro-Shoin (a study room painted with black lacquer), and the Shiro-Shoin (a study made of plain wood). Each are representatives of a samurai’s house building style, Bukefushoinzukuri,in the Momoyama period(1573-1603). The total floor space of the buildings is 3,300 squared metres, and includes 33 rooms and over 800 tatami mats.

Kurumayose

when you walk under the Kara-mon (Chinese-style gate), the gorgeously decorated Kurumayose will greet your eyes. The design on ranma-chokoku (a carved transom and a decorative frieze consisting of carved panels fixed above the head of a door) differs on its front and back. On the front is depicted are five luan (a mythical Chinese bird), pine trees, peonies and at the top clouds, and at the bottom you can see grass. On the roof is cypress bark and the base is made of squared masonry and is wide enough for an ox cart to pass through.

Tozamurai-no-ma

The Ninomaru palace boasts the largest floor area and is about 1,046.1 square metres. It is divided into rooms such as the ichi-no-ma, the ni-no-ma, the san-no-ma, wakamatsu-no-ma and the chokushi-no-ma, and was used as a waiting place for daimyo who would visit the castle. The room in the picture is tozamurai ni-no-ma, and is also called tora-no-ma (room of the tigers), and there are pictures of tigers and leopards.

Chokushi-no-ma

This room was used for the shogun to meet with messengers (envoys) from the court. The envoys would sit on the upper row, while the shogun sat on the lower.

Shikidai-no-ma

This is the room where a visiting shogun would exchange greetings with members of his council of elders. Gifts to the shogun were passed over in this room. The pictures painted on the sliding doors are said to have been painted by Tanyu Kano.

Ohiroma Ichi-no-ma, Ni-no-ma

Ichi-no-ma is 48 tatami mats wide, while ni-no-ma is 44. As it was the room in which the shogun would meet with daimyo, these rooms were the most formal in the Ninomaru palace. In October 1867, the 15th Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, gathered retainers of various clans and announced the restoration of imperial rule in this historic room. Also, the ni-no-ma was used as audience seating for the Noh stage built in the south garden at Emperor Gomizunoo’s royal visit.

Ohiroma-yon-no-ma

It is said that this was the place weapons were stored when the shogun proceeded to the capital. The sliding door paintings feature a hawk on an old pine tree. It is said these were made by Kano Tanyu.

Kuro-Shoin

The meeting room for the the shogun and the group of daimyo of feudal domains owned by a Tokugawa family branch or hereditary daimyo (whose ancestors supported Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to the battle of Sekigahara). It is of small scale compared to the ohiroma, but the room decorations are of a higher standard. The sliding door paintings are works of art created by Tanyu’s younger brother, Naonobu.

Shiro-Shoin

This was the shogun’s living room and bedroom. The design of the room’s decorations differ from those of the Ohiroma and the Kuro-Shoin. The room’s paintings were created by Koi Kano and Naganobu and are fitting ink landscape paintings(Suibokusansuiga).

Honmaru palace

The 20,000 square metres area surrounded by the inner moat is called the honmaru. At the time of construction, the honmaru palace was of a similar scale to the ninomaru palace and sliding door paintings of the Kano school decorated the inside. Also, in the honmaru a five-storied castle tower stood, however was lost to fire after a lightening strike in 1750, and following that the palace was lost to fire after the great fire of Kyoto city in 1788.

Following that reconstruction of the honmaru palace did not occur for a long time, but the honmaru palace was built for the 15th Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, as a residence during the final days of the Tokugawa shogunate, but was then dismantled in 1881. The present-day honmaru palace is the old Katsura-no-miya Palace which was located through the Imadegawagomon Gate of the Kyoto Imperial Gardens, and was moved to the grounds of the honmaru from 1893 to 1894. When the Katsura-no-miya Palace was still located within Kyoto Imperial Palace, before Emperor Ninko’s daughter, Princess Kazunomiya was married to the 14th Tokugawa shogun, Iemochi, the building had been lived in for about one year and eight months. When the Imperial Palace went up in flames in 1854 it escaped the fire and is a building of deep history that was used as a temporary palace of Emperor Komei.

There are over 3,000 screens in the National Treasure Ninomaru Palace, and 1,016 of those were designated Important Cultural Properties (picture) in 1982.
The rooms of the Ninomaru Palace form a diagonal line beginning with the Kurumayose, Tozamurai, Shikidai, Ohiroma, Sotetsu-no-ma, Kuro-Shoin and then the Shiro-Shoin. Excluding the Shiro-Shoin, each room is decorated with brightly coloured sliding screens using gilt.
The palace is an important cultural property that conveys the splendor of the Momoyama period（1573-1603）. The following screens are not only from the time when the castle was constructed in 1603, but also those newly created by the painting group, the ‘Kano School’, led by Tanyu Kano, of whom were patronized by the shogunate at the time when the castle was greatly renovated in preparation for the emperor Gomizunoo’s royal visit in 1626.

※	Presently in place at the Ninomaru Palace are all of the replications of wall paintings from the Ohiroma, the Kuro-Shoin, and a selection of those from the Shiro-Shoin. The originals are under preservation at the ‘The Nijo Castle 400 Anniversary Gallery’ and go on display irregularly.

니조성
교토에 있는 세계 유산 가운데 유일하게 절이나 신사가 아닌 것이 니조조입니다. 벚꽃 명소로도 유명해 봄에는 기간 한정 라이트 업을 실시해 200그루의 벚꽃이 피는 정원이 그윽한 분위기를 연출해 줍니다. 경내의 세이류엔과 니노마루 정원 등, 보는 각도에 따라 분위기가 변화하는 조원 기술은 세계적으로 높은 평가를 받고 있습니다. 또한 산책길과 선물을 살 수 있는 매점 및 휴식 공간이 있어 교토시내 관광 중에 조금 쉴 때에도 적당한 장소입니다. 주소：604-8301교토시 나카쿄구 니조도리 호리카와니시하이루 니조조초 전화：075-841-0096 시 버스 「니조조 앞」하차 , 시영 지하철 도자이선 「니조조 앞」역 

Nijo Castle(Nijo-jo)

For enquiries regarding this page please contact us via the details below
The Kyoto City Culture and Citizens Affairs Bureau, Nijo Castle Office
541, Nijojo-cho, Nijo-dori Horikawa Nishi iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8301

http://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/bunshi/nijojo/english/index.html