Part One Nikko Trip- Toshogu Shrine

On October 17th Dylan and I arose too early to even get the worm. Our bus took off at 4:00am for Nikko, Japan. Most everyone else was wise and went back to sleep. Oh how easy and splendid that would have been the lights were out in the bus and the sun was not yet up. But our sweet Dylan was up and didn't go back to sleep with the soothing vibrations of the bus.

There was a Samurai Costume Parade taking place at the Toshogu Shrine. The Toshogu Shrine is comprised of 42 structures many with portions overlaid in gold. As always the shrine and surrounding buildings were covered in intricate embellishments and carvings.

These two pictures show you the Goju-no-To which is the shrine's 5 story pagoda that stands near the entrance to the grounds
As you can imagine with this area being comprised of 42 two structures I could have gone picture crazy. After awhile though you can get way too many neat shots of the architecture. I have included only a few highlights of our time here.
Below you can barely see Dylan and I under the Torii gate. The main attraction is the gate directly behind us up the steps. This is considered an architectural wonder of the world and is a Japanese national treasure. The two-story Yomeimon Gate was dedicated to the first Shogun of the Tokugawa regime. A shogun is the most power Samurai of the time.

Here is a closer picture of the Yomeimon Gate which only the highest ranking Samurai could pass into the inner sanctum of the shrine and then only after laying aside their swords.

This masterpiece is technically a 12 column, two story structure with hip-gable ends on right and left and with cusped gables on four sides. Nearly every surface of the gate is ornamented with carvings of every kind - children at play, clouds, trees, birds, Chinese lions, symbols of regal power - dragons and much more The picture below I thought was interesting - I wonder where the idea of the 3 monkeys came from. We have all seen or heard of the speak no evil, see no evil and hear no evil monkeys well here they are again. The horse stable was adorned with countless carvings of monkeys. Monkeys were thought to protect the sacred horses.

A store house full of sake

Our guides loved Dylan and our sweet Dylan loved them.

He also loved the attention and the opportunity to "lead the group" with our Yokosuka flag

Do you see the symbol at the end of the posts? This is the symbol or crest of the Tokugawa Shogun. The emperor's crest and this crest are the only two in all of Japan that are not allowed to be used or incorporated into any other families crest.

There was another aspect to the grounds which gave you a wonderful view and nice cardio session. There were 218 steps leading up to the Shogun's tomb.

This area was sacred thus the shrine workers had to remove their shoes - I found it culturally fascinating seeing the slipper shoes all lined up


Here are the steps or part of them. Strangely enough my legs burn more climbing the 7 stories here at the tower when returning from taking out the trash than on this trip. Is this proof of mind over matter? I was focused on my beautiful green surroundings and didn't feel the muscle fatigue?


How about this guy - he is getting a good workout with boxes on his back. I wonder if he has to do this daily to keep something in the top shrine filled?

There were many fascinating aspects to this shrine area. One such area was the weeping dragon. You were not allowed to take pictures because once again this was a sacred area but I did "experience" the weeping dragon -(naku-ryu). I can see where if you are a nature worshiper you could think it was real or hope so though it is the acoustics in the building. Ok on the ceiling of the of the structures is a large painted dragon. If a "priest" stands in a certain spot and bangs two special pieces of wood together you can hear the dragon weeping. Originally when worshipers would stand underneath the dragon and clap their hands in prayer they could hear the dragon utter a long agonised groan. The significance of this was never recorded but is still considered special.

I do hope to take Rory back to Nikko because the surrounding area also has so much to offer including a Samurai/Ninja theme park - uhmm that could be interesting.

I will post about the Samurai Parade next so stay tuned:)