Night in Nikko

This weekend we went on our first Japan roadtrip.  We drove up to a mountain city called Nikko, which is an hour and half from our house and also happens to be home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We had a rough start as we learned that our GPS doesn't update very quickly here and gets confused easily at exits.  But after going around and around several tollbooths, we finally got headed in the right direction.  On the way up we enjoyed several mountain tunnels and numerous signs warning of wild boars crossing the road.

We had been warned that Nikko would be very crowded and that there would be a lot of traffic since this is a popular time to go to the mountains and see the autumn leaves.  We left our house at 6:30am anyway---and managed to get super lucky and avoid any traffic.  When we arrived in Nikko we immediately went to the World Heritage site and actually had it almost to ourselves for an hour or so.  After that tour buses full of kids and seniors started arriving and it filled up really quickly.

Long story short: in the year 766 a high Buddhist priest climbed a mountain and founded a temple by the name of Rinno-ji.  Over time important warriors and such prayed there and more priests built more temples.  Around the same time a Shinto shrine called Futarasan was built as well.  The Imperial family got involved and the whole place became really popular as a center of Buddhism.  In the late 1600's a famous shogun by the name of Tokugawa Ieyasu was buried nearby (his ashes) by his family and a second Shinto shrine by the name of Toshogu was built. 

That is the history of Nikko, from experience I can report that there are a gazillion extremely ornate buildings on the side of a hill.  I had been told by our previous Japanese teacher that you can tell the difference between a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine because shrines are plain and temples are fancy.  However, every single building we saw was gilded to the extreme.  I didn't find an English guide book until right before we left so I had a really hard time keeping up with what was what.  I know we saw all of the Toshogu shrine but other than that I can't say for sure what we were gaping at.  I can say that it was quite the most impressive tourist trap I've ever seen.

five-story pagoda in the Toshogu Shrine area

the very famous Sacred Bridge, part of the Futarasan
Shrine---we only really got close to it at night

three monkeys carving---the origin of
hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

Yomeimon gate in Toshogu Shrine area

protective charms for sale--Chad bought a tiny sword that is supposed to protect
your house, I bought a monkey that is supposed to protect you in traffic

Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb

a "Sacred Warehouse" in the Toshogu
Shrine area

I never could figure out what this building was,
but it was one of my favorites (in Toshogu Shrine area)

We stayed the night but before we headed to our hotel we drove further up in the mountains to Lake Chuzenji.  Unfortunately we just drove through the area but it was beautiful and I'm hoping I can convince Chad to go back one weekend and stay in the little town there.  We spent some time shopping and walking around the town of Nikko and then turned in after a steak dinner at a place recommended to us by some fellow expats. 

our hotel was across from the Nikko train station which is one of the oldest
train stations in Japan and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

driving up the mountain to Lake Chuzenji

By the next day I had realized that we had missed some shrines/temples so I dragged an irritated Chad back up the hill to hunt for them.   I finally realized that a giant ugly warehouse-looking building had a temple inside of it.  Not sure if it's a temporary situation or not.  We ended up stuck on a little tour (all in Japanese) of the warehouse temple which included a dude banging a gong periodically to signal that we were to pray.  We prayed to these impressive statues, among others (no photos were allowed, hence the link).  And then we headed home.  Check out Shutterfly for shrine/temple overload!

Sanbutsu-Do --I think painting a picture of the temple on the side of the ugly
warehouse around it was a nice touch

Update: Here is a really interesting and accurate account of Nikko written by a lady who visited in the late 1880's.  Also, the building I couldn't identify is the bell tower.