Nikko Wanderings

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When I woke up this morning I decided that I needed to see less of Tokyo and more of Japan. I hopped on the Ginza metro to Asakusa and took the first Tobu Nikko rapid train leaving for Nikko. Nikko is best known for the mausoleums of the Tokugawa Shoguns, which have made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage List. These ornate temples are surrounded by a magnificant forest of cedar trees at the foothills of a snow capped Mt Toyama.

I arrived in Nikko station around 11 am and began the 30 minute / 1.7 km walk from the station to Shinkyo Bridge.

200Y got me a short trek across the bridge and back again (for some unknown reason you can't just cross the river - you have to walk to the edge of the bridge and then turn around and backtrack to exit). On the far side of the bridge is the entrance to Nikko National Park. I wandered up the side of the mountain, ending up at Rinnoji Temple-Sanbutudo. Within the temple were beautiful golden buddhas - unfortunately, they didn't allow photographs inside.

Next along the way was Toshogu Shrine, the final resting spot of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The surrounding complex was built in was only built in 1634 on the order of his grandson Iemitsu (Ieyasu died in 1617). The shrines and buildings are unbelievably ornate.

From the main complex I had to climb 200 stairs (not an exaggeration!) to reach Ieyasu's mausoleum.

After leaving the Toshugu Shrine I wanndered into Futarasan Shrine and Rinnoji Taiyuin Temple. I must admit, by this point I had seen enough of shrines and was ready to head back into town. The whole exploration took around 3 hours. I came out on the other side of the hill, but eventually found my way back into town and to the train station.

My train arrived in Asakusa at 4:50 pm - just in time for sunset. Never one to miss a good photo op, I headed straight to the Sensoji Temple for pictures of the shrines lit up at night. It was worth the return visit - the whole area was stunning lit up.

Back at the hotel I met dad and his business associates for dinner at Banyo. There we were treated to several courses of Fugu dishes. Fugu is the Japanese word for blowfish - a delicacy that results in nearly instantaneous death if not properly prepared. It was great - not significantly better than other raw fish, but quite enjoyable. We had fugu sashimi, fugu soup, fugu soy sauce jello (it was as strange as it sounds)... Dad wasn't feeling well, so we ducked out early, missing the fugu tempura and some sort of egg custard. Ah well. It was quite expensive and well worth it for the experience.

An early night for us, as my head cold combined with sake got the better of me and dad is quite ill.

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Photos

Dragon Fountain
At the entrance to the temple complex was this amazing dragon fountain. I took about 30 pictures. This one is my favorite.

Rinnoji Temple-Sanbutudo
The first of many beautiful red temples.

Toshogu Shrine
I found this area further up the mountain. Shrines to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Wall Relief
I later found this same picture in my lonely planet guide...

Tokugawa Ieyasu's Final Resting Place
I can't begin to describe how many stairs I had to climb to find it...

Stairs, stairs and more stairs!
...and coming back down totally trashed my knee.

Asakusa by Night
I couldn't resist the photo op, and my train conveniently deposited me mere feet away!