Nijo Jo

We spent the afternoon inside Nijo Jo Castle today.
It was completed in 1626 for the Tokugawa Shogunate who ruled until 1867 when the 15th Tokugawa summoned the feudal lords and told them that sovereignty would be handed back to the Emperor. We saw the room where this meeting was held and many beautiful rooms decorated with paintings on gold leaf. Because it was such a volatile time the castle had been built with that in mind and all of the floors had 'nightingale' floorboards which creak and squeak when you walk on them (trust me I attempted to creep about silently like a ninja, it didn't work!).
There was strictly no photography allowed in the building and they were serious about that, they had staff watching at every corner and in every room, but I managed to guess the settings and took this sneaky one for you!
As 'The shogun Of Japan' was one of my favorite books as a teenager I found this particularly thrilling and it was easy to imagine the Samurai gracefully stalking the palace and grounds.
This is a shot of one of the lovely pleasure gardens, in the castle grounds.