May 1, 2016
Nikko Toshogu Shrine
We were given around 100 minutes to explore the historical grounds with our tour guide, Amy. This shrine is apparently Japan’s most lavishly decorated shrine, which makes it very unique from all other shrines since shrines are supposed to embody simplicity. Decorations such as numerous wood carvings can be found here.
Amy reminded us for the time that we should be back in the bus parked some 200 meters from the shrine and that was 3 PM if I remember correctly. But 50-60% of the time, we were following her as she spoke through the radio that she distributed earlier in the bus. She was enthusiastically telling us the story about each corner of the shrine and when she felt like she was losing her sheep, she would call out through the radio, too.
There was a long walkway to get to the main entrance and that itself was already a good view for us, with bright skies, towering trees, cool weather, and fresh breeze. It was indeed refreshing!
At the end of the long walkway, we had to turn left to walk on the Staircase of the Thousand (as in the map above), which led to the main entrance of the shrine.
Like most temples in Japan, a Water Purification Building exists for visitors. This building is used to purify body and mind by washing one’s hands and rinsing out one’s mouth before going for worship. In this article, it details on how one should visit a shrine.
When it was time to get to the Main Hall, called Honden Hall (number 17 in the map above), we had to remove our shoes and cameras were not allowed since it was a place for worship. We went around the hall and at the end of it was a shop for lucky charms. Amy again reminded us to be aboard the bus by 3 PM since her story-telling period finished inside the Main Hall. We had around 45 minutes more left to explore the rest of the area.
After the main hall, we saw a growing queue on the left side of the exit. We were curious and we ended up queuing as well. While in the line, there was a wall full of stacked large Sake jars on my left. I took a photo but came out blurry. Anyway, after a few minutes, we were trying to find out what was the line for because we could not exactly see what was in front of us, just a full stretch of wooden wall from left to right and a small doorway in the center where people were flocking. When we were close to the beginning of the line, I just saw the walkway past the doorway that led to somewhere. Huh? But why were the people not going straight through the doorway? Why were they stopping in front of this, maybe special, doorway? Then I checked what the visitors were fussing about by looking at them and then I followed their gaze and… oh, I saw the Sleeping Cat sculpture installed high above the doorway. Ah, so it was you.
The Sleeping Cat is a National Treasure of Japan and serves as an inspiration to artists around the world.
And then, below was that walkway leading to somewhere. That somewhere is Ieyasu’s Mausoleum, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. The walk was a bit long, perhaps around 10 minutes, and uphill via stairs.
There was really a lot of space around the Mausoleum. We went around the concrete fence and on the other end, we saw people offering some prayers.
I checked the time and it was already 14:57. Three more minutes before deadline and we still found ourselves just after the Staircase of the Thousand (see below). We ran without thinking and we followed the straight path in front of us. When we almost got to the middle of nowhere, we stopped and realized that the area was not familiar anymore. We quickly retraced our steps and found the fork where we had turned earlier. Whew, then we ran again! Pant! Pant! Pant!
Of course, we were a bit late again in the bus, about… hmm… 5 minutes? Amazing Race eh?
