Nikko, spiritual experiences to discover Samurai heritage

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Leaving Tokyo, after two and a half hours of travel on train, you’ll arrive at Tobu Nikko Station.
Historically Nikko is a place of worship, where a Buddhist monk opened a temple in the mountains about 1300 years ago and now there are shrines and temples listed as the UNESCO’s world cultural heritage sites.

Rinno-ji Sanbutsudo Buddhist Temple

Rinno-ji is a temple founded by the monk Shodo, who climbed the Nikko mountains 1300 years ago and spent his spiritual life there.

This is Sanbutsudo Temple, which belongs to Rinno-ji. Inside the temple there are three giant Buddhist statues: Amidanyorai (as a mother Mount Nyoho), Senjukannnon (as a father Mount Nantai) and Batokannon (as a son Mount Taro).

Toshogu Shrine

Just in front of the Rinno-ji, there is a street that leads you to the Toshogu Shrine, dedicated to the first Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa. The shrine was built in 1617, then renovated in 1645 by his grandson, the third Shogun Iemitsu.

In the background of the photo, you can see a giant stone Torii, the gateway to the sanctuary. It is 9 meters high and the diameter of the pillars is 3.6 meters, one of the largest stone torii of the Edo Period.

Nikko stands 634 meters above sea level, the same height as Tokyo’s landmark, Tokyo Skytree Tower. Nikko (日光) literally means 日 – sun and 光 – light but the sun cannot be seen for two thirds of the year.

There is a meteorological stone. When it will rain the next day, the contrast between two colors (white on the left, black on the right) of the stone becomes strong.

This five-story pagoda was offered by a feudal lord Tadakatsu Sakai in 1650. But the current building is from 1818. Its seismic structure, Shinbashira pillar, was used to build the Tokyo skytree tower in 2012.

Omotemon, Front Gate, is also called as Nio Gate, for the name of the statues of Gods.

This is a stable for the sacred horses of this sanctuary. Horses must be white males.

These monkey tablets represent the important moments in life. The most famous one is the one with three monkeys “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru”: one covers his mouth, one his ears, one his eyes. It says that children must not see or hear or say bad things.

These are warehouses still used today, where they mainly keep the tools for ceremonies and festivals. Under the roof of the left warehouse you can see imaginary elephants’ sculptures, because they didn’t know real elephants at the time.

In the background you can see the Yomeimon Gate, one of the most famous structures in the Toshogu Shrine. From here, standing in front of the Karadomon metal gate, you can observe the North Star above the Yomeimon. It’s a spiritual spot.

Yomeimon Gate, also called “Higurashi no mon” Passing a Day Gate, is such a magnificent gate that you can spend the whole day looking at it.

The Tokyo-gumi architectural technique used to withstand earthquakes.

One of the pillars of the Yomeimon has reverse designs compared to the others. The reason? To avoid being perfect, because perfection is the beginning of collapse and at the same time drives away evil spirits.

On the entrance gate to the path leading to Shogun Ieyasu’s tomb, there is a sleeping cat sculpture, the work attributed to legendary sculptor Hidari Jingoro. The sleeping cat represents an era of peace, in fact the Edo era lasted for about 260 years.

Behind the cat, there is a sculpture of sparrows, this also represents peace, because despite the presence of the cat, the enemy of birds, sparrows can fly freely.