Upon walking home through the back-streets of Nikko last night after an awesome Chinese meal (Sui-en, we love you), we could hear the rushing of water underneath the stone alleyways - presumably from many of the homes boasting hot springs. The place was also over-supplied in some serious drainage (storm-drains on steroids, and guttering about a foot deep).
This minor mystery was answered by sheets of rain that started overnight and have not stopped for the entire day. The many Bhuddist-Shinto religious sites are clearly outdoors in nature - so you can see the dilemma. Grabbing some umbrellas generously provided by the good folk at the Turtle Inn, we donned our glamorous rain jackets and stepped out into the dampest day we've seen in Japan.
Whether it was the early hour, or the fact that we were largely underwater - we had the first of the series of Shrines to ourselves.
We approached the Chozuya (which is a spring-fed stone basin), and undertook the purification ritual of rinsing our hands before proceeding, like seasoned professionals. As I had a backpack under my rain-jacket (taking on an alarmingly-convincing impression of the Hunchback of Notre Dame), I opted out of many of the photos.
 |
| Chozuya - because we needed more water. |
 |
| We came across this place in a large alcove of bedrock. The rain misting through the trees not entirely unpleasant. |
By the time we reached Tosho-gu Shrine, the buses had arrived. Forests of umbrellas sprung up, and queues began to form (oh you wacky Japanese and your queues). I noted one bus-tour consisting entirely of middle-aged Chinese ladies, none surpassing five foot tall. Their steely determination in getting to their next stop had me leaping out of their way (dragging a dancing Hamish - who was enjoying twirling his umbrella around with no regard for personal space).
We came to the Tosho-gu Shrine's sacred stable, above which is a fairly intricate carving of monkeys cavorting about. By far the most famous section is one of the Three Wise Monkeys (hear no, speak no, see no evil) - which is actually quite small in comparison to the gargantuan buildings.
 |
| A Martin take on a simian carving (imagine a line of local tourists to the left, all rolling their eyes) |
In a wooded and (apparently) moist environment, moss festoons everywhere. It seemed particularly fond of the stone lanterns, some even had some small trees starting to grow out the top of them (their electrician ought to be shot).
 |
| The Rinzo (odd place for a library if you ask me) and some mossy stone lanterns |
There was no doubting that the place was impressive - beautiful even on a drab, wet day. Joshie was soaked to mid-thigh (largely due to him making a bee-line to any puddle in his vicinity) and consequently chilled to the bone in the relatively low temperatures. We forwent the Shinkyo Bridge and the Ganman-ga-fuchi Pools, retiring to our accommodation to thaw out and attempt to dry some clothes. The plan is to see both the Bridge and the Pools first thing tomorrow, prior to moving on to Hakone. On the way back, we stumbled onto a lovely (and completely deserted) Shinto grove. Somehow, this impressed us more than all the opulence of the larger Shrines. The two bigger kids starting belting out 'Buy me a pony' by Spiderbait - which I dare say is infrequently sung whilst roaming your typical Nikko laneways.
 |
| A small, secluded Shinto grove. |
