Nijo Castle

This is the last set of pictures from Kyoto, I promise. This is the Nijo Castle. We went here on our last day. The picture above is the castle moat. No mortar is used between the stones.

The main building of the castle. We actually got to go inside. The floors are called "nightingale floors" because they chirp when you walk on them. The reason for this was so the castle staff would be alerted if anyone tried to break in to kill the shogun.

Here is a guard tower at the corner of the property.

This is one of the castle gates. It is huge and covered with carvings of birds, dragons, and other animals. The inside walls of the castle are all covered in murals and carved wooden screens. You can't take pictures inside because of the delicacy of the paintings, but we bought a set of postcards that depict the inside.

A close up of one of the carvings.

Another close up.

One of the gardens behind the castle.

This picture is for my mom; she likes pictures with us in them. I thought the flower arrangement was pretty.