Nijo Castle (Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed and expanded it. After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994

Kyoto Nijo-Jo Higashi-Ote-Mon (East Facing Gate)

Kyoto Nijo-Jo Higashi-Ote-Mon (East Facing Gate)

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Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru

The Honmaru

The Ninomaru

The turret of the south-eastern corner

Nijo-Jo Castle Higashi-Ote-Mon (East Facing Gate) and the guard stationThe gate’s roof is constructed of tiles in hip-and-gable fashion, with gables of latticework, and the ridge of the roof is adorned with Shachihoko (a traditional dolphin-like fish). It is formed by a roofed passage that goes between the stonewalls of the Yagura-mon gate with a gate below

Guard station at Nijo-Jo Castle, East Facing GateNijo-Jo Castle Higashi-Ote-Mon (East Facing Gate) and the guard station

The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats

Ninomaru Chinese-style gate, Karamon Gate

Details of tiled roof with embossed end tiles

Palace roof detail Palace roof detail

Nijo Castle (NijoJO) was belonged to the Imperial House and was given to the city of Kyoto in October 1939. 1952 According to the establishment of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, six buildings of the Ninomaru palace are made National Treasures and 22 buildings including the Honmaru palace and corner turrets receive the designation of important cultural property

The karamon or karakado is a type of gate seen in Japanese architecture. It is characterized by the usage of karahafu, an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. Karamon are often used at the entrances of Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and have historically been a symbol of authority

Ceiling. It is adorned with an abundance of engravings

One walks through the Karamon gate just before the approach to Ninomaru Palace. The gate itself actually originates from the Fushimi Palace and was later transferred here

Although kara can be translated as meaning "China" or "Tang", this type of roof with undulating bargeboards first appeared during the late Heian period

 It was named thus because the word kara could also mean "noble" or "elegant", and was often added to names of objects considered grand or intricate regardless of origin

Initially, the karahafu was used only in temples and aristocratic gateways, but starting from the beginning of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, it became an important architectural element in the construction of a daimyo's mansions and castles

The karamon entrance was reserved for the shogun during his onari visits to the retainer, or for the reception of the emperor at shogunate establishments

Imperial Seal of Japan

Karamon would later become a means to proclaim the prestige of a building and functioned as a symbol of both religious and secular architecture. In the Tokugawa shogunate, the karamon gates were a powerful symbol of authority reflected in architecture

Imperial Seal of Japan

Ninomaru Palace: Kurumayose is the entrance room in the

Ninomaru castle and the

Toozamurai is behind it

The rear of Karamon gate

The gabled roof, supported on four pillars, displays wave-like curves (kara-hafu) on the front and rear, and is shingled with cypress

Nijo Castle's Karamon Gate

hints at the splendour of Momoyama-

period culture. Nijo Castle

symbolised the Tokugawa

shogunate's authority in

Kyoto.

Finely crafted carvings over the pent-roof,

exquisite metal trimmings, and

other decorative features form

part of this magnificent spectacle of Momoyama

culture

Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Foişoreanu InternetCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Rimi Natsukawa - Shima Uta

2016