Summer Trip 2 (August 24th) - Nikko

I went to Nikko again! I really don’t think I could visit that place enough. There’s something amazing about it no matter what season you go. The best thing about visiting in the summer is that Nikko is cooler than the rest of the prefecture. The elevation we were at was the same height as the Tokyo Sky Tree (634m), putting us at 220m above sea level. (Not even 1/5 of PG Utah's elevation.) Amazing what a difference that can make!

First order of business was to leave the station and walk up to the Toshogu shrine complex. The last time I saw the Toshogu, the rain fell so hard that we soaked through in a matter of minutes, even with umbrellas. No rain made this last visit prime time for taking photos! I saw more too. Keilani and Dani came just a few months ago, so I’m glad they put up with my enthusiasm at visiting during nice weather!

neat building in the city on the road leading up to the Toshogu

the Toshogu is a "World Heritage" sight

cute little shrine near stairs

Shinkyo ("sacred") Bridge

dragon fountain

onigiri ("rice ball") Samurai on the back of a Nikko bus

 We trekked quite a ways uphill to get to the stairs that took us further up to another hill that led straight up to the Toshogu complex itself.We saw all the famous things, of course, like the "See no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil" monkeys. Sometime I'll do a post all about just the monkey carvings - there's a lot of information on that I didn't see the first time I went.

There are so many wood carvings, lining every building. Choosing which pictures to use here is so hard!

Nemuri-neko (sleeping cat), representing peace

Suzume (sparrows) safe because the cat's sleeping

awesome railing of the stairs of death leading up to Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb

urn containing the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was thought to be the manifestation of Yakusi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing (another thing I'll need to research and post about later)

roofs of the complex buildings

shrine

one of the doors on the Yomeimon Gate, a masterpiece and National Treasure

The Crying dragon. This truly is a treasure of Tochigi, and maybe all of Japan. In the main room of the shrine building, a magnificent dragon spreads across the entire ceiling (20x50 ft). Taking photos is forbidden, sadly.  The priest on duty in here told about the building and the dragon, and while I didn’t understand much, the best part was easy to understand. The priest struck hyoshigi (traditional Japanese wooden clappers) together. They sounded cool, but it wasn’t very impressive. Then he moved into the center of the room and struck them together again. Affected by the acoustics of the building from that spot, the sound echoed and overlapped for several seconds after the wood blocks sounded. Seems someone decided that's the sound of a crying dragon. It was so cool!

While trying to find a bus stop, we had to backtrack a bit, which lost us some precious time. However, it became worth it as we approached the Shinkyo Bridge from the other side. The river and hillside across it were gorgeous!

notice the bridge supports are shaped like Torii (shrine gate)

After a bus ride of about 20 switchbacks going up Irohazaka, we arrived at Chuzenji-ko (Chuzenji lake), which was even cooler than Nikko City. I fantasized about spending the rest of the summer there. Before going over to the lake itself, we walked in the opposite direction to see Kegon no Taki (waterfall). The tunnel leading down to the best viewpoint was so cold! (Quite the surprise in the middle of Japan summer.) Down on the platform, the waterfall misted everything! Not only was it beautiful, it was refreshing.

Kegon no Taki

me, Dani, Keilani

I couldn’t leave without a few charms, buying some little dango to snack on, and getting a few other souvenirs for people I love. I did refrain from buying a T-Shirt. One of them called so hard though! It had the “Crying Dragon” from the Toshogu wrapped around the Kegon Waterfall. I resisted the call (T-Shirts are expensive!), but I can’t deny its awesomeness.

As we approached the lake, I kept checking the ground to make sure I wouldn’t step on any dragonflies. They just sat there! They landed on us often too. Very cool! The light continuously shifted on the lake, and I found myself drawn to take more and more pictures.

 

Chuzenjiko is just a beautiful place. Any time spent there is time well-spent. I hope for a chance to go again for the autumn colors, though I know that visitors flood there to see such a popular sight. The ferry would likely be worth riding during that season, so I’d aim to make it on time for that if we did manage to get there in Autumn.