Nikko

Sept 24, 2009

Nikko is a town to the north of Tokyo famed for its shrines, and makes a great day trip. I highly recommend adding this to any travel itinerary. Trains leave regularly from Asakusa, so its fairly easy to get there and takes about 1.5 hrs on the Tobu Line.

We purchased the World Heritage Pass (3600 Yen) from Asakusa station, which includes return train fare, all use of buses in Nikko, and entrance to the main shrines. This works out a bit cheaper than paying for everything separately, and also makes life easier. Note that you really need to set aside an entire day for this trip.

The train drops you off in the Nikko township, which is a small alpine village with a few shops and places to eat.


The shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist) themselves are a small distance from the town, so we took the bus. This was a short comfortable ride up the hill. The bus dropped us off near an awesome dragon fountain ...


... and then we made a short walk to the first destination

Rinnoji Temple

The temple area here is beautiful ... up in the mountains, and not far below the clouds, the peaceful setting is what makes Nikko so special. The Rinnoji Temple of the Tendai sect was reputedly founded in 848.

Sanbutsu-do hall

In the main hall, the Sambutsu-do (Hall of the Three Buddhas, 1648), are gilded statues 26ft/ 8m high of Amida-nyorai, the Thousand-Handed Kannon and Bato -Kannon (this last with a horse's head on her forehead, symbolizing her role as the patroness of animals) and portraits of Abbots Tenkai (1536-1643) and Ryogen (912-985). This room is quite impressive, unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside. However before I saw the 'no photo' sign, I took the below photo which is looking into the hall from the entrance and from just behind the statues.

Inside the Hall of the Three Buddhas

Once leaving Sanbutsu-do, you immediately see the Sorin-to Tower. Sorin-to Tower was constructed by High Priest Tenkai in 1643. It is 13.2m high, and one thousand volumes of Buddhist Holy Scriptures are stored under this tower. There are 24 golden bells on the upper side of the tower, and under the bells, there are 3 hollyhock crests. The hollyhock is the family crest of Tokugawa.

We now found ourselves on a wide path, leading to the next destination ...

Nikko Toshogu Shrine

Nikko Toshogu was built in 1617 as a shrine and mausoleum to deify Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616), founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868). This is one of the most visually impressive shrines I've seen in Japan.

A Toshogu is any shrine or mausoleum dedicated to Ieyasu Tokugawa, so this is, specifically, the Nikko Toshogu.



Nikko Toshogu is famous for the ornate carvings that splendidly decorate the entire buildings both inside and outside and from end to end. In particular, the imposing Youmeimon tower gateway is famous for its lavish decorations that include over 300 dazzling carvings of mythical beasts, such as dragons, giraffes, and lions, and Chinese sages.

But its not just the Youmeimon that's carved... there is spectacular carving everywhere.

Apparently, you can also enter one of the temples and supposedly hear a dragon. Given that said dragon is probably a furtive monk under the floorboards, that the queue was long, and the guide speaking in Japanese - I opted to give it a miss and head to the next destination ...

Nikko Futarasan Shrine

Nikko Futarasan Shrine was founded in 782 by Shodo Shonin, the Buddhist monk who introduced Buddhism to Nikko. The shrine takes its name from Mount Nantai, which is also called Futarasan. While not as visually ornate as Nikko Toshogu, Futarasan benefits from its location amongst the trees, lending it an appropriately mystical atmosphere.




By this point we needed to head back to Tokyo before the last train, so caught the bus back to Nikko. There was standing room only, and my advice for this downhill trip is 'hang on'. The driver knows the road intimately it would seem, and hence no reason to dawdle!