Japan Trip 2019 - Nikko (4K 60FPS)
60After a few days in the big city, it's now time to go back to the countryside. My favorite! On the way to the north, Nikko is a small city known for its shrines, temples and mountainous landscapes. It is also part of the Japan Romantic Road. Let's take a good visit!
First thing we did early in the morning was go cross the sacred Shinko bridge. Crossing it gives good luck to couples, love and marriage. The sight was amazing with a view of the river and the mountain in background. At the end of the bridge there is a little box where you can pray and give a bit of money and wish for good luck!
The next thing we did was go walk on to the world heritage road which will lead us to thr many shrines and temples. Rinnoji temple is one of many on the road and one of the most important ones. It was in reconstruction at the time of my visit, but the bright red colors of the temple were beautiful. From there, we go to our main destination: Toshogu shrine.
If you've followed me on my previous trips, I love visiting shrines. They're all different, and this one was probably the most beautiful I saw yet. At the left of the entrance, there is a five story pagoda. The decorations on it were beautiful, decorated with representations of swans and dragons and more. To actually visit inside the shrine, you need to buy a ticket. With it, you gain access to all the temples inside it as well as great sightseeing spots. The memorable ones are the "three monkeys" carvings, Yomeimon gate, the "Crying Dragon" float, the Nemurineko "sleeping cat" carving and finally the inner sanctum. The monkeys are a carving representing "see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil." The Yomeimon gate, in particular, was really beautiful with its gold ornaments and decorations. Definitely one of the best looking ones I've seen yet.
After going through the gate, we saw the main shrine building and visited the insides of it. A small praying ceremony occured. Then, we went to sleeping cat carving, which is looking over everyone to protect them. After crossing the sleeping cat gate, we go up about 305 rock stairs, and get into the inner sanctum mausoleum which is the resting place of the late lord Tokugawa Ieyasu.
To end the day, we went a bit further down the Shinko bridge road to visit the Kanmangafuchi abyss. It is along a calm and soothing rivertrail. Near the end of it, you can see about 70 stones statues of Jizo split in three different group. Jizo was Bodhisattva who cared for the deceased.
This ends the visit to beautiful Nikko. I've learned a lot from my visit. Next stop is the Samurai city of Aizu!
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Music: Xenoblade 2 Original Soundtrack (2018) - Kingdom of Uraya - Kenji Hiramatsu
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