Japan

Day 49

Very little to report for today! We left Nagano today and travelled to tochigi which took most of the day so we checked into our room and spent the rest of the evening plotting and planning for the next few days!

Day 50
WHAT? Day 50 already?!

Today we took the train to Nikko city to visit Nikko unesco world heritage site which is MASSIVE as we discovered. It consists of over 100 religious buildings ranging from small shrines hidden away in the forest to huge brightly decorated temple halls with stunning painted ceilings to statues and figures woven into an incredibly historic area. This area for centuries has been known for its sacred buildings with incredible architecture in a beautiful natural setting, it also has close links to the Tokugawa shogunate who ruled over Japan as a dictatorship during the edo period (1606-1868). The reason this is so famous is the edo period is known as the “last traditional period in Japan” before western and foreign influences were introduced.

The Tokugawa shogunate ruled with an iron fist forbidding social interaction between the classes- warriors, farmers, artisans, and merchants. For examples, peasants who made up around 80% of the population were forbidden to engage in non-agricultural activities to ensure a steady income stream to the rich farm owners.

So now we know a little background, what was the site actually like. It was nothing like I could have imagined and in the best way possible. I cannot get across the magnitude and scale of this site, over 100 buildings! Jacob and I spent 4 1/2 hours exploring and we definitely didn’t see it all, if anything we barely scratched the surface!

Some highlights were the 5 story pagoda, now you all must be thinking god aren’t they sick of temples and shrines yet?! Honeslty no! When it’s on this scale and you can get so up close to the pagoda it’s a new experience to the other temples and shrines! Normally the pagodas aren’t really that accessible but this one you could walk right up to!

Also the colours on these buildings were just sublime! Striking reds and oranges dance down the temple halls with gold flashes and scenes with figurines hidden and tucked away until you take a closer look. Regal white dragons staring down at you guarding the entrances and even a small carving of a sleeping cat which protects the entrance gate of Lord Tokugawa Tokugawa Ieyasu’s grave! We climbed over 200 steps to see the grave which I think I could have just looked at a picture of this one, seriously unimpressive for 200 steps!

Getting off the beaten track we walked for about an hour finding small wooden shrines hidden in the forest and stone tori gates overseeing waterfalls. It really is an amazing area and once you get away from the main buildings it becomes silent and you barely see any people.

There are very few places that I’ve been that you get that level of quality interesting sites that compacted in one area, it really was an experience to remember! It is a magical and mystical place full of so much character and history it has definitely been one of my favourite temple sites we’ve visited.

We actually had more planned to do in Nikko today but we seriously underestimated how long we would need at the temples! So we will actually be going back before we leave tochigi as there is still more to see! Really interesting day with the most stunning architectural designs imbedded in the mountain side and tucked away in the forest, so glad we visited!Read more