Sunday, November 16, 2014

Ninomaru Palace

The Ninomaru Palace is located inside the grounds of Nijo Castle. It is a National Treasure and World Heritage site. Built in 1603, the building was used by the Shogun as his residence and office.

The inside walls, floors  and ceilings of this building are  amazing. The walls and ceilings were beautifully decorated, while the floors were timber, covered with tatami mats. The floors are what is called "nightingale floors", which squeak when an intruder is present. The 'squeak' is very quiet, and sounds like a bird singing, enough to let the residences know when there was in intruder about.

This was a "shoes off" building, as were a lot of the buildings in Japan. Unfortunately I have no photos of inside this building, as cameras were not allowed

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