Kyoto Post #2 – Nijo-jo
We now return to Kyoto for the 2nd post, this time focusing on Nijo-jo and the surrounding other buildings and gardens.
This castle was built in the 1600’s for the Tokugawa family (the one that ended up the winners and ruled Japan for over 200 years – the longest running ruling family in the world) and, though this isn’t the main castle, it is still quite impressive.
Inside the castle, you have to actually take your shoes off to walk through and there’s no photography allowed due to the old old old paintings and such inside on the sliding paper doors (shouji). But I managed to take a whole bunch outside. For this post, I narrowed it down to 12 pictures but it’s still close to a meg so be patient while it loads :)
To start things off though, here’s a picture I really really like. I got luck and managed to snap the picure before she moved away.
Ancient traditional gate into the castle complex in the background, a girl dressed up in full gothic lolita style in the foreground. I think that sums up Japan in a nutshell. A unique blend of the old and the new coexisting relatively peacefully :)
Now, on with the pictures!
