Kyoto in five places

Japan’s imperial capital for 11 centuries remains its most enchanting city. LESLEY DOWNER suggests the most enticing and historic temples, gardens and palaces to visit

- LESLEY DOWNER

1 Nijo-jo

Creaking castle

The city's most magnificent castle was built in 1603 as the Kyoto base of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who established his shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo). It incorporates elements, including the ornate Kara-mon gate, from the spectacular palace of Ieyasu’s predecessor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had driven a major redevelopment of the city. Inside are ‘nightingale floors’ designed to creak as a kind of intruder alarm — reputedly so sensitive that even a ninja with a tread as light as a feather would trigger the noise, prompting bodyguards to leap out of concealed chambers.

The main building is the Ninomaru Palace, made up of a succession of one-storey buildings joined by covered corridors leading to the ladies’ quarters, where the only man allowed to enter was the shogun.

In 1867, after the arrival of American ships in Edo Bay in 1853 had sparked violent upheaval and ultimately civil war, the 15th shogun, Yoshinobu, resigned in Nijo-jo to avoid further bloodshed. You can see a mannequin of him in the Great Hall where he declared that the role of shogun would no longer exist, leading to the so-called Meiji Restoration.

2 Byōdō-in

Earthly paradise