Went to Nijo-jo today in Kyoto to sketch. It's an old palace built by old man Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of the "closed period" around 1600. It was during this period that a strict code of rules was established (or at least codified) governing every aspect of life, down to what color clothes different classes of people were allowed to wear. I found Nijo-jo to be a place that remembers its history well. I was greeted at every corner by not just the standard signs about "Stay Off" and "No Shoes" and "Don't Touch", but also signs saying "No Photography" (which I halfway expected) and to top it off... "No Sketching". I'm sorry, but what the fuck? Would some of the grand palace's essence be stolen through my careless lines? Or was I simply unqualified to put such an austere place to paper? Anyways. Nijo-jo is famous for it's nightingale floors, which would alert guards to trespassing ninja (armed no doubt with sketchbooks). Here's what they would have sounded like.