Thursday, July 19, 2007

Nikko World Heritage Site - July 2007

Last weekend my friend Kyoko and I jumped on a train and headed out of the city to Nikko, a very famous town about two and a half hours north of Tokyo. Nikko is famous for a variety of reasons - mostly for its stunningly ornate temples and shrines, some of which are over 1,200 years old; it is the resting place of one of Japan's first shogun; and it has a world famous wooden carving of the well known 'See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil'. It is also an incredibly beautiful area, with lush mountain peaks, clean rivers, hot springs, waterfalls and lakes. And monkeys! But more on the monkeys later.




The Shinkyo (Sacred) Bridge. Before there were roads connecting the town, the Sacred Bridge was the only way to cross the river to visit the temples built deep in the forest.

We stayed in a small, old fashioned ryokan which is like a bed and breakfast. The room was very lovely, with tatami mats, yukata robes for guests to wear, and an indoor onsen to soak your bones in the hot springs. The ryokan was also a stone's throw away from the temple area, and a very convenient location to explore the town.



A dragon fountain around the corner from the ryokan.


A typhoon had been hitting Japan for many days now, bringing with it an endless supply of rain and heavy clouds. And Nikko, being up in the mountains, was shrouded in a fine cloak of mist, adding to its mystical atmosphere.




The first afternoon was a bit of a bomb -- it was so misty and cloudy, we couldn't see anything! We took a bus to Lake Chuzenji and to try to visit the waterfalls, but it was so misty we could HEAR the waterfall, but see nothing. Disappointing. But while we were on the bus ride back, the funniest thing happened. I was looking out the window, and saw an old lady walking with a bag of groceries in her left hand. Just then, I saw a large, brown animal walking behind her. For a second I thought it was perhaps her dog trailing behind. But suddenly, the animal broke into a sprint, galloped up to the old lady, and snatched the bag of groceries out of her tiny hands, and with a flying leap, disappeared back into the forests. It was a wild monkey! Apparently the monkeys have become a nuisance in Nikko, even stealing food from the souvenier shops.

Anyways. Enough about the monkeys.

That evening we returned to the ryokan tired and hungry, and took a nice, long soak in the hot springs before enjoying dinner.



Above, clockwise from left, you see cold buckwheat soba noodles, some vegetable tempura, a meat stew (covered), grilled fish, yuba made from skimmed soy milk, a seaweed dish, and some pickled vegetables. I love ryokan food. You get a taste of everything.

After dinner and a few beers, we slept for nine hours, and awoke the next day ready to take a close look at the temples and shrines.



Walking towards the temple area.


What amazed me the most about Nikko was the level of detail and handiwork that was put into every aspect of the shrines and temples. It was mind blowing to see the fine wooden carvings, the metal decorations, the patterns and styles, the latticework, and of course, that distinctly Japanese way of creating balance and symmetry. In fact, I realized I spent so much time studying the details of the architecture, I barely took full frontal shots of the buildings!




Nikko has three main sights - the Rinnoji Temple, Futarasan Shrine, and the jewel in Nikko's crown is Toshogu Shrine. We spent about two hours looking at Toshogu alone because it was so detailed.




This is myself and Kyoko outside Rinnoji Temple, with the main building called Sanbutsudo - 'san' meaning '3' and 'butsu' meaning 'Buddha statue'. We were not allowed to take pictures of the phantasmagoric statues inside of the three giant gold Buddhas.




A metal design on a nearby bell, of a man seemingly talking to some fish. I believe this man may be Seiji's descendant.



After visiting Sanbutsudo, the next stop was Toshogu Shrine, which as I mentioned simply blew us both away. First of all it had quite strange colors, a lot of black, white and gold, which is unusual in Japan.



A distant view of Toshogu Shrine, framed by a stone torii (gate).





Say cheese! Posing in front of Toshogu.



One of the famous sights are the 'Three Monkeys' that represent the maxim 'Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, See no Evil'.




But there are actually eight carved wooden panels here, that show the cycle of life. It starts with the baby monkey clinging to the mother monkey. As the baby grows up, it must learn the ways of the world of how to live an honorable life - how to avoid evil. During adolescence, the monkey looks into the future, unsure of its direction. It gets older, grows up, and looks for a wife. In the 7th panel, the monkey wins the love of the girl monkey, and the last panel shows the girl monkey pregnant, thus continuing the cycle of life.

Toshogu Shrine has carvings and decorations of over 26 different animals, many of them fantasy creatures. Travellers had returned to Japan, describing the strange animals they had seen overseas, such as elephants and giraffes. The artists back in Japan had never seen such things, so many of the animals they carved seem to be combinations of creatures.




The nemuri neko is also a famous animal, and as famous as the 3 Monkeys. It was surprisingly small, and hidden away atop a doorway. If the tour guide hadn't pointed it out, I doubt we would have found it on our own.

The final sight was Futarasan Shrine, built in 782 by the Buddhist monk who introduced Buddhism to Nikko. It is dedicated to the kami or mountain gods.




Visiting this shrine was quite surreal, as it is tucked away deep into the dense forest, with nothing but the sound of birds and running water in the background. Very few tourists were here, making it seem even more quiet and serene.



A god of the mountains protects the temple


Unfortunately we didn't have much more time, and we had to catch the 3 pm train back to Tokyo to make it home in the early evening. I was quite sad to leave Nikko, it was so peaceful and relaxing being there. The air smelt so fresh and clean, the sound of water was everywhere, and the world was bathed in green. I'm certainly glad I got the chance to go before I left Japan.

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