World Heritage Site Former Imperial Villa Nijo-jo Castle

The castle was completed in 1603 on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867). In 1867, the 15th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced the end of Tokugawa rule, and the returning of political control to the Emperor. Thus, the Nijo-jo Castle staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the last period of feudal rule, as well as being the starting point of the creation of the modern Japanese State.