built by a powerful Shogun to maintain an era of peace after 120 years of civil war, Nijō castle is full to the brim with security measures and symbols of power to dissuade any potential uprisers.  Some of the unique safety precautions is that the floor boards themselves are set up in such a way that they squeak when ever someone steps on them, this makes it impossible for anyone to sneak up and assassinate the shogun.  The castle did have a large tower but it burned down twice and was never rebuilt.  There are no flowering plants in the gardens because the samurai did not like any thing that would fall to the ground as it symbolized death.  The grounds are instead decorated by carefully sculpted evergreen trees and a palm tree. The palm tree represents the shoguns wealth because if he wasn’t rich enough he would be unable to keep it alive.