UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shrines and Temples of Nikko

Today was the beginning of a long weekend which the university I'm working at has around Hallowe'en each year. Since I was going to have both the Friday and the Monday off, I decided to take advantage of the situation by going to Nikko for two nights, arriving back on Sunday evening, and then having Monday (the 31st) free to see what Hallowe'en goings-on there were in Tokyo.

Nikko is a small mountainous city in Tochigi prefecture, north of greater Tokyo. It's famous for having beautiful autumn foliage and for its UNESCO-listed collection of shrines and temples, so I was very keen to explore!

The journey there was not all plain sailing, as I missed my connection and had to wait quite a while for the next train. To be fair, it was at a station in Tokyo which I hadn't been to before (Kitasenju) which had a confusing layout and the turnaround time was tight to begin with (at least, it seemed confusing when I was rushing around under time pressure and I couldn't immediately work out where I was supposed to go). At least I hadn't bought a ticket for that leg of the journey yet, so I didn't lose any money. I just arrived about an hour later than I'd planned! Anyway, once I'd caught the next train things became much more enjoyable. It was a very clear, sunny day and once we had left the outskirts of Tokyo and got into the countryside I enjoyed the scenery - rice fields mainly, a couple of rivers, and forested hills and mountains in the distance which got closer and closer the nearer we came to Nikko.

Nikko is very spread out, consisting of the main part of town and a smaller, almost-separate part which is close to the UNESCO site and which I guess must have originally been a separate village. Each part has its own train station, so if the shrines and temples or surrounding natural sites are what you're interested in, make sure to get off the train at Tobu-nikko Station rather than the main one. On arrival at Tobu-nikko I walked to the UNESCO site, but rather than just walk down the long main road which would have taken me straight there, I decided to go down some side streets and then follow the Daiya River until I reached the bridge opposite to the entrance to the site. That's what I did, though I did divert for a few minutes at one point to have a look at Inarimachi Bosai Park. It had some unusual stone terracing - at the time I couldn't work out what its purpose could be, if it wasn't simply decorative, but as I'm writing this I just thought that maybe it was seating for outdoor performances.

Eventually I came to one of the most famous bridges in Japan - the striking, bright vermilion-lacquered Shinkyō Bridge. It dates from the 17th century, though its origins are considered ancient, and serves as the gateway to the UNESCO site. The setting of the bridge is also famously beautiful. However, you could only walk across it if you paid a fee; I chose not to do that and settled instead for a photo of it from the non-tolled bridge nearby.

After that I got to the UNESCO plaque and Nikko National Park entrance sign. The temples and shrines are set within the forest of this national park.

It didn't take me long to reach the first temple, Rinno-ji, though on the way there I passed the back wall of a resting place for the portable shrines of three deities of Toshogu Shrine, who are moved here every May 18th in the Thousand Warrior Procession.

As I came up to the grounds of Rinno-ji Temple I found a statue of Shōdō Shōnin, the Buddhist monk who established the site in 766. Near it was a purification fountain with a magnificent metal dragon curled across its basin, and I noticed some incredible trees nearby too. The stunning autumn foliage I'd heard about was already living up to expectations, even though I think it's still to early in the autumn for the leaves to have reached their peak.

Before I went into the main building I wandered around the terrace in front of the steps, with its massive metal incense stand in use in the middle.

At the top of the steps, but to one side of the building, there was the temple bell tower.

Inside the main building I stopped on my way to the main hall (nicknamed the Hall of the Three Buddhas) to admire a display of costumes worn by dancers at an annual event called Ennen-no-mai (dances to pray for long life) every May 17th. The hall itself was absolutely magnificent. As the name indicates, it has three golden Buddhas, or rather three manifestations of Buddha (Senju Kannon, the goddess of mercy; Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of infinite light and life; and Bato Kannon, the horse-headed Buddha of power. Each one is associated with one of the three mountains of Nikko - Mt Nantai, Mt Nyoho and Mt Taro respectively.) No photos were allowed inside the hall, but I did manage to get a side-on one through the doorway while standing at the end of the corridor where the costume display was. It didn't come out very well though.

After that I wandered round the grounds behind the main hall. I came across some monuments, the little Komyoin Inari shrine, more beautiful autumn trees and the modern (though built in traditional style) Daigomado, a hall purpose-built for the Goma Fire Ritual.

I left the grounds from a side exit and looped down part of the magnificent avenue the grounds join onto before re-entering and going into the Rinno-ji Treasure House.

The Treasure House was quite small, but had some exquisite items on display. I couldn't get any pictures of them though because no photos were allowed inside. After leaving there I went to its Edo-period traditional garden and spent a very happy half an hour wandering around. It centred around a beautiful pond with lots of fish, carp I think.

The pond was modelled on Lake Biwa near Kyoto, which has lots of catfish. Catfish are said to predict earthquakes and have the power to ward off disaster, but it was thought too difficult to transport live catfish from Lake Biwa to Nikko, so instead 'catfish stones' were created and people are encouraged to pray by them for protection. The one I came across had some coins left as an offering.

As I walked around the garden I was staggered by its beauty.

I even admired the structure of the bamboo fence, as it looked so different to any fence I'd seen before.

After finishing there I made my way out of Rinno-ji and the rest of the WHS, back into town to find my hostel and check in and relax before going out again for dinner later. I re-admired the terrace and its huge metal incense burner on the way.

This time I walked along the long main road rather than take the side streets. I passed the Former City Hall near the start, and further on I stopped at a convenience store for a snack to keep me going - a couple of warm 'pizza buns' did the trick.

The hostel seems pretty good. After weeks of uncomfortable nights sleeping on one and then two thin futon mattresses on the ground, I was overjoyed at the prospect of a bedframe I could sit up against in bed and a thick mattress to lie on. I relaxed there for two or three hours before going out round the corner for dinner. I had some very nice chicken and butter corn ramen with a side of gyoza. The menu didn't say what sort of gyoza it was but on arrival it seemed to be pork with spring onion.