Nijo Castle (二条城, Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867).  His grandson Iemitsu completed the palace buildings 23 years later and further added a five story castle keep.  After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace before being donated to the city and opened to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan’s feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.  This unused BB&W cad long predates that designation, though.  Grade: 1