Nightingale Floor

The corridors of the Ninomaru Palace at Nijō Castle in Kyoto squeak when someone walks on them. The floor is known as uguisubari, nightingale floor. The sound comes from metal clamps that rub beneath the boards.

It is often said that the floor was a kind of alarm, so that an intruder would be heard at once. No official source found for this post confirms that the sound was intended.

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