- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1601 · 17th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Kyōto Prefecture, Japan
- Commissioned by
- Tokugawa shogunate
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 35.0142°, 135.7475°
History
Tokugawa Ieyasu built the castle in the early 17th century as his base when visiting Kyoto, the city of the imperial court. His grandson Iemitsu enlarged it in the 1620s ahead of a visit by Emperor Go-Mizunoo, adding among other things a five-storey keep that burned after a lightning strike in the 18th century. In 1867, in the Ninomaru Palace, the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, announced the return of power to the emperor, ending more than 250 years of shogunate rule. The castle then became an imperial residence and was handed over to the city of Kyoto in 1939. Since 1994 it has been part of the UNESCO listing for the historic monuments of ancient Kyoto.
What to see
The highlight is the Ninomaru Palace, whose rooms are lined with sliding panels painted by the Kanō school, showing tigers, pines and birds on gold backgrounds. Its corridors have the famous nightingale floors, which chirp with every step. Stone walls and moats surround the grounds, and the Ninomaru garden and the lawns around the Honmaru Palace are especially lovely in cherry blossom season.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1013399
Popularity: articles about this site in 29 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).