AROUND TOKYO/1: SACRED NIKKO AND ITS PEACEFUL SURROUNDING
Around Tokyo there are several day trip destinations within the easy reach of a couple of hours. We planned to visit some of them before heading to the South with our Japanese Rail Pass. The Rail Pass is an unlimited train ticket for tourists, which is valid for the high-speed trains and for most local trains for 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days. Visitors need to purchase the pass before entering Japan to be eligible for the discount. Although it is at a discounted price to support tourism, it is still very expensive, hence it’s worth using it when you travel longer distances. Therefore, before the start day of our 2-week pass we decided to visit nearby places around Tokyo. We picked two places which are both considered as a “must see”: the first is Nikkō, a World Heritage temple site and mausoleum in a beautiful hilly environment North of Tokyo, the second is the Fuji mountain, the symbol of Japan.
Nikkō – The Birthplace of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Nikkō is reachable in about 2 hours by train from Tokyo Asakusa station, and is a perfect day-trip destination. The surrounding national park with waterfalls, hikes and hot springs would easily keep you busy for another few days though, and it is a good option for those who want to see natural beauty near the capital. We decided to come only for a day, but started early to see the main shrine (the temple) and then a bit of the national park too, namely the Kegon-no-taki 97m-high waterfall and the Chūzen-ji lake, both about 10km from Nikkō. We bought a day pass covering return train travel to Nikkō, as well as a local bus covering the area around the shrine, as well as a separate ticket to reach the waterfall (for those who stay here longer there is a 2-day pass covering both areas). The latter was probably the most expensive bus ride we’ve had in Japan (about £7 for a 30-minute ride, each way).
The main shrine complex, Tōshō-gū, is in a magical natural setting, surrounded by huge cedar trees on a hillside. It was a Buddhist hermitage site for monks from the 8th century, and it gained major significance when Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the shogunate who ruled in Japan for 250 years was buried here. Today his mausoleum is on the top of a long stairway in the forest above the shrine complex.
Amid the beautifully decorated buildings down in the courtyard we found one (called Shinkyūsha) which is decorated with the well-known carving of three monkeys that actually demonstrates the 3 principles of Tendai Buddhism: ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’. The carving is part of a beautiful story carved on the building that tells the flow of life from birth through childhood and adulthood till giving birth to new life, when the circle starts again. Here people could buy small amulets that bring luck to their owner for all parts of life, for instance with exams, with finding a job or for safe driving. Many of the other baubles, like little wooden carved tables with messages and wishes to hang on a wall, amulets and souvenir prints, are also very popular at these sacred shrines.
Another building, the drum tower (called Honji-dō) has a painting of a huge Crying Dragon on the ceiling. Its acoustics are such that when a monk claps two sticks together below the dragon’s mouth it sounds like a roaring dragon, but doesn’t work anywhere else in the hall. There was also a long explanation of this feature before the demonstration, but as it was all in Japanese it remained a mystery for us – we still tried to make a relatively smart face during the presentation though.
After visiting the shrine complex we walked around the area, where many other shrines are located, to breath in the mystical atmosphere of the place, and then hopped on a bus to Chūzen-ji Onsen, which is located right next to the Kegon-no-taki waterfall and the Chūzen-ji lake. Within the 30-minute bus ride the landscape and elevation changed so much that when we got off, we found ourselves in the cold with some snow still piled up on the side of the roads from the winter! The natural beauty, however, makes up for the temperature, as both the waterfall and the lake is strikingly pretty. This place seems to be a popular family holiday destination among locals which would be worth a few extra days in itself! There are numerous waterfalls in the area and mountains offering great hiking opportunities.
Chūzen-ji Lake
As soon as we arrived we noticed that nearly every single restaurant offered the famous local “cheese cake” which. as big fans of the Western version, we obviously had to try. A piece of good advice, however, is not to compare the two, but look at this as a sponge cake, so that the experience might be somewhat more positive. The restaurant owner was nice to also serve us some salty tea after the cake, another local speciality. Luckily we have not come across this anymore since, because it tastes like it sounds and it’s hard to smile when you have a sip (and you won’t have more than one sip).
We walked in Nikkō itself too on our way back to the station, and stopped by the Shin-kyō, a red footbridge over the Daiya River that we saw on many brochures about the area. It is a reconstruction of the original bridge, where two giant snakes are said to have carried across Shōdō Shōnin, the Buddhist priest who established the original hermitage in Nikkō. Although it’s a pretty bridge, unfortunately by today the main road runs next to it which ruins the picture a bit. Overall our visit to Nikkō was a very memorable one, and we think it’s well worth a trip from Tokyo.
Kegon-no-taki waterfall and the Shin-kyō red footbridge
