Travel Guides

Nijo-jo is located in the central of Kyoto, Japan and is the castle of the Edo Period.
Nijo castle was completed in the 17th century by Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868) as a temporary residence for his visits to Kyoto. In 1601 Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of Tokugawa Shogunate ordered all the feudal lords in Western Japan to contribute to the construction of the Nijo Castle. The construction was completed during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1626. It was built as the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns

Iemitsu also added the Honmaru (“main castle”) including a five storied castle tower to Nijo Castle. However, the original honmaru structures were destroyed by fires in the 18th century, and the present building was moved there from the Imperial Palace in 1893. The central keep or donjon was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in 1750. Built as a symbol of his power, the castle is filled with many fine works of art, including beautiful paintings of trees and animals by some of Japan’s most famous artists of the period. The palace, comprising 3300 square meters, was built in the shoin-zukuri (library-style) of samurai of the Momoyama Period. One of the castle’s most intriguing features is its so-called nightingale floors. To protect the shogun from real or imagined enemies, the castle was protected by a moat and stone walls.