Nijojo Garden

The Ninomaru Garden at Nijo Castle is said to depict the Horai world of the immortals. Records and its style suggest it was laid out around 1602–03, when Tokugawa Ieyasu built the castle, designed to sit with the architecture rather than apart from it. In 1626, under Iemitsu, it was partly remodelled for the visit of Emperor Go-Mizunoo, and became a kind of inner courtyard enclosed by newly added imperial and consort halls. A pavilion stands in the pond, which holds three islands and four bridges — and the whole composition was designed to be read from three vantage points: the shogun's raised seat in the great hall, the shogun's seat in the Kuroshoin study, and the emperor's seat in the visiting hall.