Nijo Castle (Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed and expanded it. After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. The spacious Nijō Castle complex also boasts a half-Western and half-Japanese style garden called the Seiryū-en.  The name “Seiryū-en” was given by Kyoto’s mayor at the time, Yoshizō Takayama

The Seiryu-en garden is the most recent part of the Nijo Castle. It was constructed in 1965 in the northern part of the complex, as a facility for the reception of official guests of the city of Kyoto and as a venue for cultural events

Tea-ceremony house named ‘Waraku-an’

The Honmaru

The Ninomaru

The Seiryu-en garden

Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru

‘Waraku-an’Tea-ceremony

house

Bamboo

The stones called ‘Kamo Nanaishi ( 加茂七石 :Kamo’s seven stones)‘ are put beside the Waraku-an. The Kamo Nanaishi is  seven kinds of stones which is quarried around the Kamo River

Camellia (tsubaki)

Camellia sasanquaIt’s believed there are 400 tsubaki of approximately 90 different varieties at Nijō Castle today

Camellia sasanqua 'setsugekka‘The tsubaki trees were planted in 1953. The season for tsubaki starts in December and finishes around mid-April

Camellia sasanquaTsubaki flowers hold cultural significance in Japan and have been the focus of a number of rituals and beliefs, as well as being used in beauty products

Walking through the 16,500 square-meter complex you will find two tea houses, over 1,000 stones, a pond, and more.

In 1950, it was used as a tennis court by the occupation troops, then in 1965 Seiryu-en Garden was created, as it is today. Part of the garden, the garden stones, and trees, among other, were transferred from the former mansion of Ryoi Suminokura that was on Kawaramachi Nijo, and, as well as stone inscriptions, collected from all over the country

‘Koun-tei’Tea-house

This is the tea-ceremony house named ‘Koun-tei’This building removed and rebuilt a residence of Ryoi Suminokura which was a business magnate of Kyoto and was built in 1965

In front of the Koun-tei are Ise boulders that represent a sandbar projecting into the ocean

The garden is half western and half eastern influenced, with eastern half covered in grass in the Western style and the western half, with its two buildings and its chisen-kaiyushiki garden, a Japanese style garden with a path around a central pond and spring, and a dry landscape garden, and a hill-and stream garden landscape without water

Small pond garden with a

Horaijima type island in the

middle of the pond

There is a keen distinction

between wet landscape and dry landscape

Lion stone

Seiryu means Azure Dragon in English. It is one of the four gods said to rule over

the four directions in China.

‘Seiryuu’ preside over the east, the

spring and the river 

The second most popular tree for autumn colors is the ginkgo (Japanese: icho). The leaves of the ginkgo trees do not turn red. Instead they turn into one of the most brilliant yellow colors that nature has to offer

Ginkgo trees are more easily found in temples, shrines, urban parks and along city streets than in nature

Kitayama-sugi  (Japanese red cedar, or peacock pine; Cryptomeria japonica)

Fast-growing evergreens that yield a strong, durable and fragrant wood that is first-class for both building and joinery — as well as being resistant to insects and easy to work 

Wisteria are called fuji in Japanese

In this museum, we can see genuine wall paintings etc which had been displayed to the Ninomaru Palace (The wall paintings etc displayed in the Ninomaru Palace is a replica now)

Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Foişoreanu Nicoleta Leu InternetCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Lullaby of Takeda (Takeda No Komoriuta) Japanese Folk Song - The Red Birds (Akai Tori) 2016