Nikko, Japan - March 17, 2012

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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Today is St, Patrick’s day in the US. We have not been home for St. Patty’s day in years, always been traveling.



We are scheduled to visit Nikko today. This is about a two hour train ride.



Cindy and Jenny slept in today, almost 8:00 am before they woke up. I got Michael up because he wanted to work out. Today was the only rainy day of our trip. It was light, but annoying and very cold.



After a very quick breakfast (not as good as the Osaka Hilton), we reserved a train to Nikko. We had to take two trains, a JR rail and then a local train. This city is a fairly small and easy to walk around. We did not arrive until 1:30 pm, the site we wanted to visit closes at 4:00 pm. There were two things we wanted to see (Cindy visited Nikko back in 1997 with her Dad and brother). They included Shinkyo Bridge over the Daiyo River and the Tosho-gu Shrine.



A little about Nikko. The city was discovered over 1200 years ago by a formidable priest, Shodo Shonin. He was on his way to Mount Nantai. Nikko was a renowned Buddhist-Shinto religious center. It has four seasons and includes snowy winters. We heard that every Japanese should visit this town, particularly the Tosho-gu Shrine before they die.



Shinkyo Bridge

The Shinkyou Bridge is a sacred bridge and spans over the Daiyo River; you were not able to walk over it for some reason. It is beautifully painted red and situated in a perfect spot in the forested area. Legend has it, according the DK Eyewitness Travel book; Shodo Shonin crossed the river on the backs of two serpents. The original bridge was built back in 1636 for the exclusive use of the shogun and imperial messengers; however it was destroyed by a flood. The current bridge was built in 1907.



Tosho-gu Shrine

Our walk to the shrine took about 30 minutes. However what was really interesting is that snow covered the ground. Something we never expected. It actually added a lot of character to the shrine. It is very interesting how this shrine came about. The Tokogawa lemitsu built this shrine for his grandfather leysai. It is suggested that it took 15,000 artisans two years to build, carve, gilt, paint and lacquer the shrine. Despite it being cold and raining, the shrine was packed with tourists. It was Saturday, so that probably explains some of the crowd.



The three big highlights at the shrine were the Yomeimon Gate, Sacred Stable, and Pagoda.



The Yomeimon Gate is beautifully decorated with beasts and flowers. DK Eyewitness Travel book states that the gate has 12 columns carved upside-down, a deliberate imperfection to avoid angering jealous spirits.



The Sacred Stable displays three carvings of monkeys. When you hear the famous saying “hear no evil, say no evil, and see no evil,” this is where this started. I attached a photo of Jenny, Michael and I demonstrating the famous saying.



The Pagoda was donated by a daimyo (feudal lord) in 1650. The original pagoda burnt so the current structure was rebuilt in 1818. Each story of the pagoda represents the following; earth, water, fire, wind, and heaven (bottom to top order).



What I found very interesting about this shrine is it was one of those things you look at that are overwhelming to the senses. The depth of everything you see is incredible. I think you could visit this shrine a hundred times and always see something different. Even though it was raining and cold, I am really glad we visited Nikko.



While waiting for the train, the rain stopped and it started to clear. To the west you could see Mount Nantai which was covered with snow. Very cool scene. I attached a photo.



We left Nikko around 4:45 pm bound for Tokyo. While waiting for the train, Michael and I saw several vending machines around town and train stations. The vending machines included various cold drinks, but it also included hot coffee in a small can. Not believing it, we paid 120 yen and got a hot can of coffee. I attached a photo of us holding the cans.



This evening we wanted to accomplish two things; eat Japanese Yakitori’s and go to a Karaoke bar.



The hotel recommended a small Japanese restaurant called New Torigin. It was located about 5 blocks from our hotel down a small alley. The restaurant was very small and ate upstairs. We ordered soft drinks, chicken rice and yakitori’s. The yakitori’s came first. We order chicken and vegetable selections. Michael and I were still hungry so we order 4 additional yakitori’s. After eating the yakitori’s the rice was brought to our table. Our meal was relatively cheap compared to other meals we ate, 5,140 yen.



On our way back to the hotel, we had to stop at a Karaoke bar. Karaoke started in Japan so we had to do this. It is funny the kids were not real crazy about this doing this at first.The Karaoke bar was a block away from our hotel and on the fifth floor. The arrangement at the bar is you rent a room with a timed package. We picked the 30 minute package with beverages. They sent us to room 506. It was a long but narrow room. It had a table with chairs and the TV with a Karaoke machine with microphones in the front. We queued up several songs which varied in type. The classic part was Michael and Jenny did a great job rapping, however Michael took the prize. Dang, he can rap. His new name is Master RM (Master Rapper Michael). We ended staying one hour, a half hour longer than we expected, but worth the price. Everyone had an awesome time. According to Michael, next to seeing me getting attacked by the deer, this was his favorite part of the trip.



Around mid-night, we called it a day.

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