Nijo Castle
About
Built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu — the shogun who unified Japan — Nijo Castle is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the finest surviving examples of Momoyama period architecture. The Ninomaru Palace within the castle contains 33 rooms decorated with extraordinary gold-leaf painted sliding screens showing tigers, peacocks and pine forests.
The castle's most famous feature is its nightingale floors — wooden corridors designed to squeak when walked upon, alerting the shogun's guards to the presence of intruders. The mechanism is achieved through deliberately loose metal clamps beneath the floorboards. The surrounding gardens, designed by the master garden designer Kobori Enshu, are magnificent in spring (cherry blossoms) and autumn (maple foliage). Allow 2 hours minimum.