Interior of Nijo Castle To assert control over the imperial court and the city of Kyoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu built palace-like Nijo Castle there in 1601–1603. He had the sliding doors painted by leading artists of the period, making the castle as elegant as the imperial palace. (From Fujioka Michio, Genshoku Nihon no Bijutsu, Vol. 12: Shiro to Shoin [Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1968]/Visual Connection Archive)