Oops, looks like I've overcompensated as I'm running out of pics of Niji-jo and haven't started the commentary. Well I should start the commentary with a little blurb about the history of Japan but I'll do that later since I have tons of photos of temples, which is really what Kyoto is famous for, and I'll probably run out of accompanying words fast. So very briefly, Kyoto was the capital of Japan pretty much forever, well, from around 800 AD to 1850 AD, when it moved to Tokyo. The whole of Japan's history is pretty much a power struggle between the imperial family and the shogun, who was the leader of the samurai warriors and something like a military dictator. Generally the emperor played around at court in Kyoto while the shogun actually ran things in various other cities, but in the 17th century he plopped this palace down near the imperial palace just to further intimidate the emperor. It's not a great place to start a tour of Kyoto because the architecture is quite different from the rest of the historical sights, which are all very delicate and refined, while this is more a military outpost from Tokyo. Couldn't take photos inside, but you'd be amazed if you're familiar with European palaces, this is uber-Zen, very minimalist and frankly uncomfortable looking. But apparently the shogun only came here three or four times in the hundreds of years he had this place as his Kyoto crash pad, usually to force the emperor to pay a visit to him and show the country who the real power was.