Nightingale Floor
Nightingale floors, or uguisubari (鴬張り) listen, were floors designed to make a chirping sound when walked upon. These floors were used in the hallways of some temples and palaces, the most famous example being Nijo Castle, in Kyoto, Japan. Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. The squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected. According to myth these floors were developed as a means of defense against ninjas.
The "nightingale" the English name refers to is the Japanese Bush Warbler, uguisu a type of Bushtit or Nightingale native to Japan.
Read more about Nightingale Floor: Construction, Physical Location, Uguisu-bari (鴬張り) - Translation, Examples, Popular Culture, Modern Influences and Related Topics
Famous quotes containing the words nightingale and/or floor:
“I envy no man’s nightingale or spring;
Nor let them punish me with loss of rhyme,
Who plainly say, My God, My King.”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)
“The distant box is open. A sound of grain
Poured over the floor in some eagerness we
Rise with the night let out of the box of wind.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)