Nikko's sacred space(s)

Highly decorated roofing on some of the buildings
that make up Toshogu Shrine in Nikko

Close-up view of a gateway at the less elaborately
decorated -- relative to Toshogu Shrine -- Taiyuin Mausoleum

On the second full day of my recent Japan trip, I woke up early to beat the Tokyo rush hour commuter traffic and headed some 140 kilometers north of the Japanese capital city to Nikko. A temple town located close to 1,300 meters above sea level, it is the final resting place of influential shoguns Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) and his grandson Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) -- who ordered the construction of Toshugu Shrine by some 15,000 artists and craftspeople -- as well home to such as the Buddhist Rinnoji Temple and Futarasan Shrine, which was founded by a Buddhist monk but dedicated to the kami (Shinto gods) of Nikko's three most sacred mountains.

After arriving at the town railway station, a bus took me closer to the part of Nikko where its four major holy sites are to be found within walking distance of one another. It was still morning when I embarked on what effectively was a pilgrimage of sorts -- albeit one that was more cultural heritage than truly religious in spirit -- but mid afternoon by the time I finished checking out the sacred area collectively known as Nikko Sannai (and realized that I had forgotten to have lunch but also be hungry -- so satiated was I visually and aesthetically by the sights there!).

Due in large part to its main Sanbutsu-doh Hall currently literally being under wraps while undergoing renovation, I was distinctly underwhelmed by the first and main section of Rinnoji Temple that I visited. In contrast, I got much more out of my visit to the serene feeling Taiyuin Mausoleum that actually is administered by -- and consequently considered, for organizational purposes part of -- Rinnoji Temple personnel but lies furthest north of the four major holy sites in Nikko Sannai and consequently is the least visited.

Like many other visitors to Nikko, I devoted the most time to touring around the expansive grounds of Toshogu Shrine where I didn't only just check out the likes of the Yomeimon Gate (that has more than more than 500 separate sculptural ornaments on it), the famous "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" monkey trio, the celebrated "sleeping cat" and intriguing "crying dragon" but, also, climbed several extra flights of stairs up to the Okusha (Inner Shrine) where Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb lies.

Although I was expecting from such as guidebook descriptions that the visit to Toshogu Shrine would be sensory overload-inducing, it turned out to be the case that I actually have seen far more colorful and elaborately decorated places -- including Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew and (yes, really!) Penang's Khoo Kongsi's magnificent clanhouse. And I'm sure it didn't help that the day I visited Nikko (whose name means "sunlight") was the one day during my Japan trip that there were no blue skies to be seen -- and, also, that the autumn leaves had yet to appear to offer up a beautiful show.

On the bright (no pun intended!) side, however, this meant that I was ready and happy to press on to check other sacred sites in the area after visiting the -- don't get me wrong -- still pretty impressive overall monument that is Nikko's most important and famous sacred site. In addition, it helped as well that the neighboring Futarasan Shrine nicely served up a contrasting sight by virtue of it being as visually understated as Toshogu Shrine tends towards the aesthetically elaborate.

All in all, I'm glad that I went to Nikko. I'm also glad that I went when I did -- in that Nikko Sannai wasn't half as crowded as I was expecting it would be. Actually, as strange as it may sound, I was happy to have the company there that I did. For the truth of the matter is that I think that a Nikko Sannai empty of people would make me feel like I was intruding too deeply into the private realm of the supernatural as well as spiritual! ;b