The shrine of shrines and the scenic spots of Nikko

Next up on our Japan tour was a visit to Nikko, to see the Toshogu shrine and the Kegon waterfall. Nikko is a small city high up in the mountains, a few hours from Tokyo, best known for the mausoleum of the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is buried there, in a huge compound of Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and others buildings, all hidden among the woods. Despite the tourists, it’s a quiet, relaxing place. The first building of note in the compound is the Rinnoji Buddhist temple, which looks a lot like Sensô-ji in Tokyo and so many other Buddhist temples we’ve seen, but in its dark interior it hides three massive statues of the Buddha. Going up hill you pass through a wooden torii gate and see a pagoda on your left. Beyond it is the way to Futarasan Shinto shrine, lined with stone lanterns; on the right, stone pillar bears the crest of the Tokugawa clan, a circle with three heart-shaped leaves, and straight ahead a stairway that leads to the Toshogu shrine itself, which is known by its lavishly decorated and profusely carved buildings.

You pass Omote-mon gate, which is guarded by two red-skinned, angry looking guards carved out of wood, and find yourself in a sort of plateau lined with stone lanterns, where you can see some storage buildings. You’d never believe that was their function, though, since they’re so intricately carved with exotic and mythological animals. The most famous among these buildings is Shinkyusha, which was a barn to keep sacred horses and contains the well-known three monkeys carving – hear no evil, say no evil, see no evil – as a part of a series of monkey-themed carvings. Passing under a bronze torii and up another flight of steps we come to another stage, where the drum and bell towers are located. To the left, inside Yakushi-do hall, there is a room with a dragon painted in the ceiling, which has interesting acoustic properties: when clappers are struck under the dragon you can hear a strange ringing sound. They call it the dragon’s cry.

Past the drum and bell towers is Yomei-mon gate, which has so many carvings you could spend a whole day looking at it. Nobles, poets, dragons, and all sorts of animals have been carved on it and several parts are covered in gold leaf. Going under the gate, you get to the central courtyard, where they keep the consecrated sake (and whisky!) and where you can admire another highly sculpted gate, the Karamon. Finally, beyond it lies Honden, the main shrine, composed of several dark, tatami (thick straw mats)-covered rooms, painted in gold and other rich colors with dragons, tigers and other animals. The ceilings are decorated with a mosaic of bird pictures. The whole thing has a very regal feel to it.

Having spent the whole morning walking around the site, up and down stairs, treading on uneven rocky ground, lunch was warmly welcomed. We had a traditional meal of udon noodles, tempura (fried battered vegetables), miso and yuba, a type of tofu which is a specialty of the area. Everything was quite tasty, even if some of the dishes looked funny at first. After lunch we got back on the bus and were taken up the mountains to scenic lake Chuzenji, which lent itself well to photos, especially with the clouds partially covering the mountains around it. The last stop was at the Kegon waterfall, one of the three largest waterfalls in Japan. Again, we took pictures and got a chance to walk around before the long trip back to Tokyo. During the ride, the weather changed from clear and sunny to windy with pouring rain several times in a matter of minutes.

We left the bus at Shinjuku and spent the next two hours or so on several pay phones, trying to get the credit card unblocked (listen up kids, before you travel abroad, always let your credit card company know.) Still, we got a good feel of the giant Shinjuku train station, the busiest in all of Japan, and ended up having some excellent pizza for dinner. Outside, the neon lights of the department stores lent a surreal feel to the streets, but we were too exhausted to enjoy it properly.