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:
“Everything perfect in its kind has to transcend its own kind, it must become something different and incomparable. In some notes the nightingale is still a bird; then it rises above its class and seems to suggest to every winged creature what singing is truly like.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“Before she has her floor swept
Or her dishes done.
Any day you’ll find her
A-sunning in the sun!”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)