I visited one of the castles that was in Kyoto that had these nightingale floors. I don't remember the name of the guy, or castle (maybe it was Nijojo Castle? ), but he was immensely paranoid and meticulously planned out this castle out where there'd be no way for someone to sneak up on him, be hiding in a room waiting for him, and no one knew the entirety of the plans of the castle except him. Regarding the floors - there was no way you could tip-toe to soften your footsteps. It is a really strange feeling where no matter how much weight you walk on you're loud as fuck, kind of like walking on dry leaves (not the sound but how you'll basically always make some sort of crunch when they are underfoot.) There was a ton of hidden doors, rooms that had hidden doors that lead to no where and you'd get stuck, false fake doors that he would know if someone was trying to find secret doors, etc. etc etc. Plus the artwork and grounds were immensely beautiful, I don't recall any sneaky shenanigans being outside, only inside the castle.