Nijo Castle, Kyoto, Japan

Shogun's palace or Nijo castle is any history buff's dream destination to go to. This was an imperial palace and when the royal family moved to Tokyo, they donated this for public viewing. The entire castle is surrounded by moat, wall and a beautiful gate (pic above)

The castle has absolutely no furniture inside as Shogun's enemies could hide behind it. There are some small desks for the clerks to work on. The floors are squeaky so Shogun's enemies cannot sneak into the castle. If you look into the structure below the castle, even today you can see the nails that helped create squeaky wooden floors. The ones visiting the castle has to wear a certain type of garment.

Shogun would let only certain ranks of officers to visit him and even when they do visit him, he would sit on an elevated platform and his security men hidden in closets. Only women were allowed to enter the inner chambers. 

The garden surrounding the palace is a traditional Japanese garden. Visitors would bring him gifts in the form of plants & rocks to beautify his garden. There is a portion of the garden where Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a private tea ceremony when they visited Kyoto. It does pay to be royalty.