Nikko

On Friday, we took a overnight trip to Nikko. For those of you who read Shogun (or saw the miniseries!), this area is the "home base" of the shogun upon whose life the book was based.

The trip there was a bit long, mostly because we had first had to go to the immigration office in Yokohama to take care of another matter, then we had to take two long subway rides to get through Tokyo, to then get to a train to Nikko (a two-hour trip). We were all quite tired out when we got there, so we ate frozen pizza and cup o' noodles for dinner. However, the hotel was very nice, with very comfortable futons (see Laurea trying them out above) and an amazingly lovely hot springs bath that overlooked a river.

Well rested, the next day we explored the area. The top picture is the stone arch, the only part of Nikko that is original. The arch marks a Shinto shrine, but there are also a lot of Buddhist temples in the area as well.

The top left picture is the burial shrine of Tokugawa (the shogun). The was Mary's favorite part - you climb up 200 stone steps through a huge cedar forest. The ambience is amazing.

The temples are quite ornate, unusual for Japanese temples. The next picture shows a carving above the "sacred stables." Inside the stable is a sacred white horse (also associated with Shintoism), and monkeys are recognized as protectors of horses. You may recognize the picture (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil)!