timblesworldtour

Nikko is a small mountain village 128km north of Tokyo. It took us about 2 hours to get there, by train, but it was worth it. In the early 1600’s a local Shogun requested in his will for a shrine to be built in his honour. This was done, but his grandson wasn’t impressed and ordered something a bit bigger and brighter. Craftily, he made local, rival Lords pay for it.

The result is a compound of shrines, temples and pagodas covering a large area of the mountainside, with dazzling carpentery and beautiful deities. We were there on a fantastic, but cold, spring day – ideal for photographs but not so good for shoeless feet in the temples!!

The orginal ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ wood carving ,by Tosh Gu. Highlights three of the princicples of Tendai Buddhism

The buildings throughout are spectacular. The trees in the background, Cryptomeria, were planted as saplings at the time of building, over four hundred years ago. There are said to be over 13,000 of them on the site.
Even better close up