Japan in Motion---Pro-web casting from across Japan.

Nikko

Nikko is a fairly small city situated at the edge of Nikko National Park. A pilgrimage site for over a thousand years (there may have been a Shinto shrine in the area as early as the 5th century), Nikko’s fate as one of Japan’s most visited towns was sealed when Tokugawa Ieyasu requested on his deathbed that a shrine be built for him here.

Actually, he asked that a small shrine be built, and that he be installed as a god, the guardian of Japan. His grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu, had other ideas. The shrine built for Ieyasu is called Toshu, and by the time it was finished, in 1617, it was one of the most remarkable sights in all Japan. Remarkable enough that this is another of Japan’s UNESCO designated World Heritage Sites.

The numbers are staggering, if Nikko’s own tourist literature is to be believed. Far from the small shrine Ieyasu had requested, the shrine Iemitsu built for his grandfather cost over forty billion yen in today’s currency to finish. More than four and a half million people are claimed to have contributed, in some way, to the shrine’s construction, which may explain how it was finished in just under a year and a half.

The architectural style displayed in the Toshu Shrine is called gongen-tsukuri, and it is famously over the top, even gaudy to many visitors. A frequent observation is that the shrine scarcely seems Japanese in the sheer exuberance of its excess. A bright, brilliant red and gold gilt are the dominant colors, and the detailed carvings that decorate the gates and buildings are attractions in their own right, with Japanese crowding shoulder to shoulder to get a glimpse, and hopefully a photograph. The most famous are a sleeping cat, a strangely misshapen elephant, and the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys, from a series of monkey carvings depicting the stages of life.

There are many buildings in the complex, and if you really want to see it all it expect to spend some real time. Perhaps the oddest building is what is called the “restroom of the gods,” a rectangular building that’s supposed to contain nine lacquered toilets, though you won’t be able to go in and look unless, of course, you’re a god. Not even the priests use the toilets.

By the time you reach Ieyasu’s actual grave, it’s almost jarring how understated it is, compared to the rest of the shrine.
Iemitsu, pleased with the results of Toshu Shrine, decided to build his own mausoleum nearby. The Daiyuin Mausoleum, though smaller and somewhat more subdued than Toshu Shrine, is considered by many to be the artistically superior of the two. The colors here are primarily black and gold, with red trim. The mausoleum faces Toshu Shrine as an act of respect by Iemitsu, who said that he would continue to serve his grandfather even in death.

After you’ve toured these twin monuments to Tokugawa megalomania, there are several options for rounding out your day, or even making a full second day. The Daiyuin Mausoleum is technically a part of nearby Rinnoji Temple, worth a visit not only for its sprawl of buildings, which really deserve a full day on their own if you’re interested in Buddhist history and architecture, but also for it’s beautiful Shoyoen Garden. The Ganman-ga-fuchi Abyss is an interesting riverside path featuring countless Jizo statues that are said to change positions regularly, so that you’ll never see them all in the same place on any two visits. And as the gateway to the national park, Nikko makes an excellent base from which to explore some truly beautiful lake and mountain scenery, along with several onsen.

Nikko may not be the best exemplar of the spare, subtle aesthetic that many westerners associate with Japan, but it’s a fantastic place to visit all the same, and as an old saying here goes, “You can’t say ‘magnificent’ until you’ve seen Nikko.”

>>Access
JR Omiya station====(88 min. by train)====Tobu Nikko station
JR Utsunomiya station====(45 min. by train)====JR Nikko station
Utsunomiya IC====(20 min. by car)====Nikko IC

>>Open hours
April 1st -Oct. 31st: 8:00 -17:00
Nov. 1st -March 31st: 8:00 -16:00

>>Holidays
No holidays

>>Fee
Adult: 1,300 yen
Child (Elementary or Junior high school): 450 yen

>>Website
Nikko Tourist Association
http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/index.html

-Matt Mangham

>> Hotels and Ryokans in Nikko Area
>> Tours in Nikko