Nijo Castle and the International Manga Museum

Alan exiting the Moxy Hotel.

Friday, November 14th

Our hotel room

First, a tour of our compact hotel room. Alan found a Marriot hotel, the Moxy, that was in central Kyoto and near many of the historic sites and also across the street from Nijo train station. We booked two rooms next to each other and are on the 5th floor.  

Wall of pegs, hangers, and a fold-down desk. Even the TV is hung from pegs!

Our rooms have two twin beds, with leather pillowed headboards, a nightstand between the beds, and a fold-down desk with a stool. There is no closet or dresser drawers, only wall pegs. And we had robes and slippers waiting for us on the beds when we arrived!

The hot pot station and small frig.

We have a hot pot station over a small fridge. The fridge space is very minimal--like, only 6" deep!

The Hi-Tech Toto

Our bathroom is very compact and high tech! The Toto toilet is my first experience using bidet features, a heated seat, and an automatic flush!

Awesome shower features. 

We love the shower; it fits my height with the handheld, and Alan loves the rain shower. 

Off to breakfast! Deidre joined us today at 9 a.m., and we headed over to Nijo station for breakfast at the bakery there. Our destination today was the Nijo Castle, a World Heritage Site. It was only one stop away by subway. 

The first thing we see as we approach, thinking it was the castle! LOL, it was a guard tower!

Nijo Castle was built in 1603 by the orders of the third (Edo) shogunate, Ieyasu Tokugawa, as a second residence and fortress away from the government center in Edo (Tokyo today). The Tokugawa family and samurai continued to govern for the next 264 years, until 1867, when Shogunate Yoshinobu restored political power back to the Emperor. That ceremony took place at this castle and was a grand affair that took two years to prepare for at the castle. 

The Kara-mon Gate

We joined our English-speaking tour group at 10 a.m. (there were 12 of us from different countries), and our guide’s name was Naoko. Naoko handed us lanyards with headsets to hear her speak since there was so many tour groups going through the castle that day, and it would help us hear her voice better. This gate was where we entered the castle grounds, and it is the main gate that was the most decorated. 

The crane, symbol of longevity.

From our guidebook: "[the] Kara-mon Gate stands at the entrance to the Ninomaru-goten Palace. Gate architecture is used to indicate status with the Kara-mon Gate representing the highest status, indicated by the cusped gable to the front and back of the roof, and the use of cypress bark rather than copper or tile for the roofing.

The medallions in the center of the gold filigree are chrysanthemums, which is the Emperor’s family crest. 

The gate has four supporting pillars, and has magnificent and brilliantly colored carvings of cranes, pine, bamboo, and plum blossoms symbolizing longevity. 

The carved lion, a protector. 

The carved lions protect the Palace. A 2013 restoration returned the gate to its former glory." 

Ninomaru-goten Palace

We next removed our shoes and entered the palace. Unfortunately, there was no photography permitted inside. So, I’ll describe it as traditional Japanese architecture, with tatami floors, wood-and-paper sliding doors, or large, heavy, carved painted doors in the ceremonial rooms, with painted walls, and carved ceilings. The rooms were bare because they didn’t have large furniture; they sat on cushions and slept on futons. They dined on low wood trays brought in by servants. (I was able to find photos of rooms on Google.)

Tiger Room with carved ceiling.

Cyprus room with cyprus air vents carved on both sides.

The painted walls represented so much in each room. The room where the shogun met with his feudal lords was painted with tigers all around, and the shogun sat on an elevated stage higher than the lords to represent his power over them. There were no tigers in Japan, so the painters had to imagine how they looked from the skins brought from mainland China. Many themes were the seasons, flowers, birds, cherry trees, and pine trees. The original painted walls are now in a museum, and the rooms have replicas of the originals.

Audience Room with raised platform.

Messenger's Room

I almost to forgot to mention the nightingale floors in the outer hallways that chirp as you walk over them! It is quite loud with so many tourists! They are mentioned in the The Tales of the Otori YA book series, by Lian Hearn, which is such a good story and an important part of the plot! Ninja are able to break into the royal palace by creeping over the nightingale floors without triggering the bird sounds!

Naoko holding the power structure visual aid. 

Naoko showed us many visual aids to help her describe the customs and politics of the past. This one illustration of historic Japan helped us understand the power structure. You’ll notice that peasants were 90% of the population. 

Honmaru-goten Palace

When our tour of the palace was over, we were free to walk through the many gardens outside and go into the second compound surrounded by a second moat. We chose not to tour Honmaru-goten Palace which is half the size of Ninomaru-goten Palace.

Deidre telling me to film the koi feeding!

As you enter the second palace grounds, the bridge over the moat has a place to feed the koi, so Deidre bought some food to feed the fish! 

Deidre feeding the koi off the moat bridge. 

She joined the rest of the tourists on the bridge and enjoyed watching the koi swarm and feed!

Stairs up to the Keep, the wood building on top was hit by lightning and burned down in August 1750.

We climbed the stairs up to the Keep, the tallest lookout tower on the grounds. We could see 360-degree views of Kyoto from here. 

Deidre overlooking Kyoto from the Keep. 

I have to mention at this point that we had gorgeous weather today--66 degrees! We were a little warm in our sweaters when the sun was out. Our guide Naoko said that the castle was so crowded today because of the nice weather! She said that only three weeks ago, it was still very hot and muggy here. 

Penni overlooking the moat that surrounds the second palace. You can see some fall foliage, although, it is not at its peak yet. 

From here we saw the gardens. The shogun’s gardeners had landscaped most of the grounds, and when the emperor came, he personally planned additions and updates. The museum has his handwritten instructions and drawings. 

Naoko said that many of the large rocks for the emperor’s garden came from feudal lords as gifts, carted into Kyoto from all around Japan. 

Alan and Penni by the emperor’s garden.

Wood Block Stamp for Nijo-jo Castle Festival 2025.

One fun thing Deidre and I did was a four-part wood block stamp picture of the castle guardhouse, which was that first building we viewed this morning. There were four stations around the grounds at rest areas (where the bathrooms were located). The first stamp was yellow, second was black, third was gray, and the last stamp was red. It turned out beautiful. 

Deidre in front of the Manga Library and Museum. 

After we finished touring Nijo Castle, we headed west, about a half-mile, to the Manga Museum! It is one of the largest collections of Manga in Japan and is actually a large library, with exhibits on the history of Manga. We stopped at a Seven-Eleven store and grabbed sandwiches to eat out on the library grounds before touring inside. Most people go there to check out the Manga books, DVDs, etc. It was another place with no photography is allowed, but I was able to get a picture of the phoenix hanging over the lobby. (I was able to download three images from the Tripadvisor website)

Artist making drawings for Museum Patrons

Hands of the Manga Artists Display

Library along side walls, History of Manga exhibits in middle of room.

The Phoenix. I couldn’t get its tail in the photo, it was too big!

It was about 3 p.m. by the time we finished looking at the exhibits. Deidre and I were both tired, so we canceled our plans to go to the Kyoto National Gardens and hope we can visit that on Sunday after church. We found a subway station near the museum and headed back to Nijo station. (Post Script- We never made it to the National Gardens.)

As we have been on this trip for a few days now, I realize that Alan and Deidre, both being tall with long legs, outstride me wherever we walk. They are constantly getting way ahead of me and then stopping to look for me behind them! I have started to grab Alan’s hand to slow him down and let me keep up with him!

Our dinner at the Moxy Hotel Restaurant. I tried the Sukiyaki Gyodun with beef, onions, rice and sweet sauce. Delicious! Alan had the Tre Formaggi Flat Bread and onion rings. 

Deidre was too tired to join us for dinner, so I picked up some grilled mackerel sushi from Life Grocery for her. Tonight, as we have settled down for bed, I have realized, I am coming down with a cold. So, I’ll be wearing the mask until I’m feeling better!