A Detailed Guide to the History and Overview of Nijo Castle
Table of Contents
Introduction
Nijo Castle was built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu to guard the Kyoto Imperial Palace and to lodge the shogun when he came to Kyoto. In 1867 the 15th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, announced his intention to return power to the emperor (Taisei Hokan) in Ninomaru Palace, so the castle is tied to both the beginning and the end of the Edo Shogunate.
Inside the grounds are the National Treasure Ninomaru Palace, the Important Cultural Property Honmaru Palace, and three gardens of different character.
Overview of Nijo Castle
Nijo Castle is in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto. The grounds cover about 275,000 square meters, with a perimeter of about 2 km.
The entire site is a national Historic Site, and in 1994 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a component of the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.”
In the southwest corner of the Honmaru stood a five-story castle tower said to have been moved from Fushimi Castle. It was destroyed by lightning in 1750 (Kan’en 3) and never rebuilt. Only the stone base remains today; from the top you can look out over Honmaru Palace, the Honmaru Garden and the city of Kyoto.
Honmaru Palace completed major repairs at the end of March 2024 and reopened to the public on September 1, 2024, for the first time in 18 years (advance reservation and a separate fee required).
The castle has a General Information Office and a Great Rest Area (shop and luggage storage), and power-assisted wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge at the General Information Office.
History of Nijo Castle
1. Construction and Early History
In 1601 (Keichō 6), Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the feudal lords of western Japan to build the castle, and in 1603 (Keichō 8) the part corresponding to today’s Ninomaru was completed and Ieyasu entered it for the first time. In 1611 Ieyasu met Toyotomi Hideyori here, and war councils for the Winter and Summer Sieges of Osaka were held inside the castle.
2. The Kan’ei Expansion and Emperor Go-Mizunoo’s Imperial Visit
During the era of the third shogun, Iemitsu, the retired shogun Hidetada began expanding the castle in 1624 (Kan’ei 1) in preparation for a visit by Emperor Go-Mizunoo. The grounds were extended west to their present size; a castle tower, an Imperial Visit Palace and Honmaru Palace were built; and Kano Tan’yū and other Kano-school painters added wall paintings to Ninomaru Palace. In September 1626 (Kan’ei 3) the emperor stayed here for five days. The Imperial Visit Palace was later relocated, and the castle tower and the original Honmaru Palace were lost to fire.
3. The Taisei Hokan (Restoration of Imperial Rule) at the End of the Edo Period
On October 13, 1867 (Keiō 3), the 15th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, gathered senior retainers of 40 domains then in Kyoto in the Grand Hall of Ninomaru Palace (the upper “First Room” and lower “Second Room”) to hear their views on returning power to the emperor. The next day, the 14th, he submitted the proposal to the Imperial Court, which accepted it on the 15th. The rule of the Edo Shogunate, which had lasted about 260 years since Ieyasu became shogun, came to an end.
4. Nijo Castle from the Meiji Period Onward
After the Meiji Restoration the castle housed government offices, including the Kyoto Prefectural Office, and in 1884 (Meiji 17) it became an imperial villa, the “Nijo Detached Palace.” In 1915 (Taishō 4) it hosted the banquet for Emperor Taishō’s enthronement ceremonies, attended by members of the Imperial family and foreign dignitaries; the South Gate, built as the emperor’s entrance for that occasion, still stands. In 1939 (Shōwa 14) the castle was given to the City of Kyoto, and it has been open to the public since 1940.
5. Nijo Castle as a Cultural Property
In 1952 (Shōwa 27), the six buildings of Ninomaru Palace were designated a National Treasure and 22 buildings, including the Higashi Otemon Gate, Important Cultural Properties. Ninomaru Garden was designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953, and the wall paintings of Ninomaru Palace were designated Important Cultural Properties in 1982.
Highlights of Nijo Castle
Ninomaru Palace
Ninomaru Palace consists of six buildings arranged diagonally: the Tozamurai, Shikidai, Ohiroma (Grand Hall), Sotetsu-no-ma, Kuroshoin and Shiroshoin, with 33 rooms and over 800 tatami mats. With the palaces of Edo, Osaka and Nagoya castles lost, it is the only palace complex surviving in a Japanese castle, and it is designated a National Treasure. About 3,600 wall paintings survive, of which 1,016 are Important Cultural Properties. The paintings inside the palace are reproductions; the originals are shown in rotation, about 30 at a time, four times a year at the Nijo Castle Wall Painting Exhibition and Storage Facility (¥100, separate from castle admission).
The Tozamurai is the largest building, where visitors waited; its rooms are also called the “Tiger Rooms” after their paintings. One of its rooms, the Chokushi-no-ma, was the reception room for imperial messengers. The Shikidai is where business and gifts for the shogun were passed on. The Ohiroma was the shogun’s formal audience hall for feudal lords and court nobles, and its First Room has a tokonoma, staggered shelves, a built-in desk alcove and decorative doors. The famous “Pine and Hawk” painting is in the Fourth Room of the Ohiroma. The Kuroshoin was used for audiences with lords close to the Tokugawa family and high-ranking court nobles; its First and Second Rooms, painted with cherry trees in full bloom, are called the “Cherry Blossom Rooms.” The Shiroshoin is thought to have been the shogun’s living room and bedroom and is decorated entirely in ink painting. The corridors are known as “nightingale floors” because they chirp like birds when walked on; the sound comes from clamps and nails rubbing beneath the floorboards.
Honmaru Palace
The original Honmaru Palace of the Kan’ei era burned down in the great fire of 1788 (Tenmei 8). The current palace consists of part of the former Katsura-no-miya Palace (the entrance, Goshoin, Otsune Goten, kitchen and Gan-no-ma), relocated here from north of the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1893–94. It is the only large-scale Edo-period residence of an imperial prince’s family still standing, and is designated an Important Cultural Property.
Its wall paintings depict plants, landscapes and customs of the four seasons. The “Pine and Crane” painting by Kano Eigaku in the Shōkaku-no-ma of the Otsune Goten renders each of the crane’s feathers in fine detail.
The First to Third Rooms of the Goshoin served as the formal audience rooms, and the Third Room becomes a Noh stage when the tatami are removed. The Otsune Goten is a two-story building with living rooms and bedrooms; the bedrooms have chrysanthemum-shaped mosquito-net hooks. Viewing requires an advance reservation (web tickets go on sale 30 days before your visit), and photography is not allowed inside. It takes 15–20 minutes to walk from the Higashi Otemon Gate to Honmaru Palace.
Gardens
Nijo Castle has three distinctive gardens.
– Ninomaru Garden:
Source: World Heritage Nijo-jo Castle
Ninomaru Garden is a pond garden with a waterfall facing the west side of the Ohiroma. It appears to have been renovated for Emperor Go-Mizunoo’s visit in 1626 (Kan’ei 3) under construction commissioners including Kobori Enshū, and it is designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty.
This shoin-style garden has Hōrai Island at the center of the pond, flanked by Crane and Turtle islands, and was designed to be viewed from three directions: the Ohiroma, the Kuroshoin and the (no longer existing) Imperial Visit Palace.
– Honmaru Garden:
Honmaru Garden was first laid out right after the palace was relocated, then remade on the orders of Emperor Meiji when he visited in 1895 (Meiji 28). Its modern design consists of lawns enclosed by curving paths, stones set low in the ground, and an artificial hill (moon-viewing mound) in the southeast corner.
– Seiryu-en Garden:
Source: World Heritage Nijo-jo Castle
Seiryu-en was created in 1965 (Shōwa 40) using building materials, garden stones and trees from the former residence of the Suminokura family, wealthy Kyoto merchants. The western half, with the Kōun-tei hall and the Waraku-an teahouse, is a Japanese garden; the eastern half is a Western-style lawn. A tea room in Waraku-an serves matcha and other refreshments.
Higashi Otemon Gate and Southeast Corner Turret
The Higashi Otemon Gate is the main gate of Nijo Castle, a two-story turret gate. For the 1626 imperial visit it appears to have been rebuilt as a single-story gate so that no one would look down on the emperor from above; the present gate dates from 1662 (Kanbun 2). The Southeast Corner Turret was one of the turrets at the four corners inside the outer moat, used as a watchtower and armory. The two northern turrets were lost in the great fire of 1788, leaving only the southeast and southwest turrets. Both the gate and the turrets are Important Cultural Properties.
Summary
At Nijo Castle you can see, in a single visit, the National Treasure Ninomaru Palace where the return of power to the emperor was announced, Honmaru Palace relocated from an imperial prince’s residence, and three gardens from different periods.
If you plan to visit Honmaru Palace, book your web ticket and check the opening hours before you go.
