Exit Through The Gift Shop

Nijo Castle is certainly impressive, there is no denying that, imposing and lavish structures on a beautiful sprawling site.  But I have to say it is a little over-guided and over-signed.  It gives you a strange impression of artificiality, like it is a recreation of Edo period Japan you are walking through rather than the real thing.  I understand that a designated World Heritage Site with centuries old buildings cannot have hordes of tourists wandering about freely and randomly, but something slightly less structured, less directed would be more enjoyable.
As I walked through the lovely gardens and plum orchards, or shoeless through the splendid Ninomaru Palace I wondered, what did these Tokugawa Shoguns do here?  This is a tremendous amount of indoor and outdoor space.  I thought of Versaille and the enormous and luxurious palace and gardens there.  Great wealth always gets you a lot of real-estate.