We got off to a slow start today. I think in the back of our minds we knew we only had one site to visit, so we took advantage and had a little sleep in.
We arrived at Nijo-jo (jo means Castle by the way) around 11:00 am. The castle was built in 1603 as the official home for Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu. For those of us (including me) that don't know what a Shogun is, it is basically a military rank that literally translates to "a commander of a force".
The property is broken down into two palaces, an inner (Honmaru) and an outter (Ninomaru). The highlight of the double moated castle was by far the Ninomaru Palace. The interior has 33 rooms that are home to staggering wall paintings, and more than 800 of the traditional Japanese straw mats (tatami). The architectural style is what is know as Shoin-sukuri, a simple style that was a favourite of the samurai.
To Stacey and I, the interior architectural style reminded us of Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Overall a very simple and elegant design with the use of wood slats to allow natural light to flow into the rooms. There are also wood carvings above door jambs that allow light in. The sliding panel doors that adorned both the interior and exterior walls opened up to show a beautifully framed garden landscape.
When we got back to the hotel I did a little google work to see if FLW ever traveled to Japan. In fact, he first traveled to Japan in 1905, but his visits were connected to his work as a Japanese are dealer. Apparently for quite awhile he made more money as an art dealer then he did as an architect, and he often designed a house and sold the home owner the art to go with it. From the few minutes I spent reading about his connection to Japanese architecture, it sounds like he consistently denied that Japanese traditional architecture had any influence on his work. Sadly, we were not allowed to take any pictures of the interior of Ninomaru Palace.
The following are a few pics taken at Nijo-jo.
I love the detail around the large bolt for the inside of the main castle gate.
Although the exterior of Ninomaru Palace has some ornate detail to it, the inside is very reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's simple, elegant style the flows in harmony with its exterior surroundings.
The following are pictures of the Ninomaru Garden. All of the shots are views that the Shogun would have had from his office and the Main Hall when the wood panel doors were opened.
This shot shows the inner moat that leads to the Honmaru Palace (Inner Palace).
The Honmaru Palace. We weren't able to go inside this building.
Exterior detail of the Inner Palace
This is the interior of a building near the exit of the castle property, you can see how these structures would have not defence against a fire.
We had planned to take Kyoto down on a major shopping bender, however, that never really materialized. When we were at one of the temples yesterday, Stacey was bitten near her ankle by something. The affected area seemed to expand a fair amount from yesterday so we cut our shopping excursion short to try and find a pharmacist to help us out. It was a challenge but we finally found a pharmacist with an electronic translator. We ended up buying her some cream that appears to be helping.
We are off to Hiroshima/Miyajima in the morning.
