b) Description and inventory

Q. Nijo-jo Nijo-jo (castle) was built in 1603 by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu for the protection of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and also as the residence for the shogun when he visited Kyoto. The castle was expanded to its present size in 1626 as part of a large-scale expansion/reconstruction project involving the donjon, the Honmaru Goten (Honmaru Palace) and the Ninomaru Goten (Ninomaru Palace). The current Ninomaru Goten buildings date from the time of this reconstruction. Later, because it was difficult to maintain all of the buildings within the castle, many buildings were eventually demolished or relocated to other places. In addition, the donjon burned down in 1750 and the Honmaru Goten burned down in 1788. In 1867 Nijo-jo was placed under the jurisdiction of the Meiji National Government. In 1871, it was placed under the control of the Kyoto Prefectural Government, and in 1884 it became a detached palace under the supervision of the Imperial Household Agency. In the period from 1885 to 1887 major repairs were undertaken, including the re-roofing of the Ninomaru Goten. In 1894, the Kyu-Katsuranomiya Goten (the old palace of Prince Katsura, built in 1847) was moved to the Honmaru site. Later, in 1939, the castle was donated to Kyoto City by the Imperial Household. Between 1949 and 1961, such buildings as the Tozamurai and Kurumayose (the retainers' rooms and the entrance hall), Shikidai (Minister's reception hall), Ohiroma (official reception hall), Sotetsunoma (connecting corridor), Kuroshoin (inner audience chamber), and Shiroshoin (Shogun's residential quarters) of the Ninomaru Goten and the roofs of the Honmaru Goten were repaired, and the Daidokoro (kitchen) and Okiyodokoro (meal preparation room) of the Ninomaru Goten were partially dismantled and repaired. During this time other gates, keeps and storage houses were also repaired. From 1973 to 1989, the Honmaru Goten and Yaguramon (gate) were partially dismantled and repaired, and the roof of the Ninomaru Goten Karamon (gate) was also repaired. In addition, starting in 1972 and continuing up to the present, artists have been engaged in producing replicas of the paintings in the Ninomaru Goten, to take the place of the original fragile paper screen paintings -- so that the originals can be properly preserved under museum conditions. Nijo-jo is highly valued as a great cultural property representing the spirit of Momoyama Culture. Six buildings of the Ninomaru Goten that survived the fire of 1788 are designated as National Treasures. The Ninomaru Teien, the garden of the Ninomaru Goten, is designated as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. In addition, 22 buildings including the Honmaru Goten (formally the Kyu-Katsuranomiya Goten), and the Higashi Otemon (east gate) are designated as Important Cultural Properties. The Ninomaru Goten is a masterpiece of the shoin-zukuri architecture, a residential style popular with the samurai class. It is composed as a complex of connected building forms including the Tozamurai and Kurumayose, Shikidai, Ohiroma, Sotetsunoma, Kuroshoin and Shiroshoin, arranged in a staggered form alongside the pond of the Ninomaru Teien. Each building has its own function, and together they make up one integrated compound. These are ranked from the front to the back. This system is the same inside of the buildings; the height of the floor level, the form of the ceiling, and the decoration of each room in each building is distinct, determined according to its rank and function. The interior of each room is gorgeously decorated: the walls are painted with pictures appropriate to the function of the room, sculptures decorate the transoms, and there are ornamental metal fixtures and ornamental covers for the heads of nails, designed in flower-form configurations. The Tozamurai and Kurumayose (Q8): The Kurumayose is designed in the hipped-gable style with a cypress bark-shingled roof and is decorated with sculptures on the transoms, and the Tozamurai exhibits prominent decoration on the gable facing the front. The Tozamurai consists of the Toranoma, a waiting room for daimyo (feudal lords) paying courtesy visits to the castle, and the Chokushinoma, a room for receiving messengers from the imperial court. The Shikidai (Q9) is a building for accepting messages and presents for the Shogun. It consists of the Shikidai and Rojunoma rooms. The Ohiroma (Q10) is an official reception building. It consists of the several rooms ranked according to the position of the visitors; from the top rank they are: the Jodannoma, Ninoma, Sannoma and Yarinoma. The last room, the Yarinoma, was the waiting room for the escorts of the samurai. The Jodannoma is one step higher than the other rooms and has a double-layered lattice work ceiling. It boasts the typical decor of shoin style buildings, provided with tokonoma (alcove), chigaidana (alcove shelves), tsukeshoin (built-in desk with windows) and chodaigamae (ornamental doorway). The Kuroshoin (Q12) is connected to the Ohiroma through the Sotetsunoma (Q11), which is a corridor with walls decorated with gold leaf. In the Kuroshoin, the shogun granted private interviews to Fudai Daimyo (feudal lords who sided with the Tokugawas before their consolidation of power). It too, like the Ohiroma, is built in the shoin style, but on a somewhat smaller scale. The Shiroshoin (Q13) is the innermost building, used as the living quarters of the shogun. This is a shoin style room on a smaller scale than the other rooms. The walls are painted with sansuiga (pictures of mountains and water) in soft tones to create an intimate and relaxing atmosphere. The Ninomaru Teien (garden) (Qa) was built to the west of the Ninomaru Goten, designed so that it could be enjoyed from the Ohiroma. A pond with an undulating shoreline was dug deep into the ground, and on the slopes and the banks were arranged spectacular stone groupings. Also, in the pond three islets were built, and in the back, a three-stage waterfall was constructed. The strong design of this chisenkaiyu-shiki (stroll-type with pond) garden harmonizes well with the grandness of the buildings.

---