天空の足湯にて。 標高2,000m、日光白根山ロープウェイの頂上駅。登山の疲れが癒されます〜 ?iPhone13promax

Just some more photos to wrap up our trip to Nikko. I took a bunch of photos of different monuments and buildings that seemed important or had lavish decorations. I can't make out what the writing on the monument says but I can at least make out the kanji for heart (心). I also liked the golden palanquins inside the the building in the forth photo, although I'm not sure if they were used at some point or are simply for decoration. The other photos are from Futarasan Chugushi Shrine (二荒山中宮祠神社) located in front of Lake Chuzenji. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside the shrine but I was at least able to take some nice photos of the torii gate. Apparently it has a kagura hall as well and the entrance to Mt. Nantai is located inside the shrine as well. And finally, just an assortment of food that I haven't posted yet. All of it tasted great. It was definitely a trip I'm never going to forget!

Some more photos from our trip to Nikko. There were so many awesome monuments, landmarks, and buildings that it'd be impossible to fit it all into one post. I was so glad that I had my mobile battery with me because I was taking so many photos that I was just burning through my battery lol. I really liked how the incense burner looked and I tried looking up how old it was but I wasn't able to find anything about it, only the one in front of Tokugawa Ieyasu's burial site. I would have liked to use the chozuya as well, but unfortunately it was closed off due to covid. I also liked seeing the sake barrels as well as they always brighten up shrines. The "Ippon Toro" lantern was interesting as well. I'd never heard of Empress Tofukumon'in before either, so it gave me some interesting things to read about Japan's Edo Period. Apparently she helped rebuild prominent temple in Kyoto and collected art and pottery from famous artisans of the time and even those of the past. Some buildings I'd have to look at a map to know their names but there was definitely no shortage of decorations. Unfortunately we weren't able to take photos inside some of the main buildings, but a few of them had ceiling paintings done by famous painters. Many of them were birds, and I'm not an expert, but I think they were mostly cranes and they were all really beautiful.

Took a trip out to Nikko, Tochigi over the three day weekend and had an incredible time. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my girlfriend's sister's college graduation so we wanted to make it as memorable as possible. I don't have enough room to fit this into one post so I'll post the rest throughout the week. We started out from Tokyo and had lunch somewhere Nikko Toshogu Shrine. I'm not sure if Yuba is a local specialty but it seemed like literally every single restaurant in the area was selling it so I'm assuming that was the case. It was my first time trying it and it was pretty interesting I guess you could say. It tasted alright with the soy sauce and radish but I think I prefer normal tofu instead. Either way it was a nice experience. After eating we headed out to Nikko Toshogu Shrine nearby and man was it amazing. Everything was so lavishly decorated that I couldn't stop taking photos. The pagoda was incredibly beautiful as well and the snow covering the Nikko area made everything even more beautiful. I was lucky enough to get a really nice shot of the corridor full of lanterns while no one was walking through the area as well. I also took a photo of the torii gate at the top of the steps as it had a very strong presence and signaled the end of the long journey up the steps to reach the inner shrine. Unfortunately the main gate was undergoing repairs so it was completely covered in tarp and surrounded by staging so I wasn't able to get a photo of it, but I did get some really cool shots of the main shrine. I tried as hard as I could to get some good photos of the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and while I think the photo of the gate isn't bad, I think I'd need a better camera to get a good shot of the crane and his tomb. That being said it was still really awesome to see. After checking out the shrine we headed out to Kegon Falls and I managed to get some really nice videos and some decent photos as well. I can't post the videos or I would. It was really awesome seeing the icicles surrounding the waterfall and all of the frozen scenery as well. Even just taking the lift down to the waterfall was an experience. After we left the waterfall observation deck and went back up the elevator we got some suiton (水団, flour dumplings in soup) and shared it between the three of us as a light snack before dinner later that evening. We also visited Lake Chuzenji and admired the scenery there for a bit as well. We didn't spend a ton of time here so this photo was the best I could do. I like that I was able to get the sign in the shot though so I can't complain. After enjoying the view of the lake we headed to our hotel and ate dinner and had some wine. The place we stayed at was called "Lamb Chop" (ペンション・ラムチャップ日光). The food was great and service provided by the the owners was top notch, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for a place to stay in the area. After dinner we headed back to our room and I was so exhausted I fell asleep almost instantly. And that was the end of day 1! I'll post day two tomorrow since this post is getting quite long now!

日光東照宮陽明門 リニューアルして初めて訪れました。 パーツ全てに彫刻が施されていて、どれだけ時間と労力が掛ったのか? 想像に難くありませんでした。

栃木県日光市の日光連山、厳しい冬と広大な自然が圧巻

栃木県日光市『華厳滝』。

栃木県日光市にある『日光東照宮』。

紅葉の始まり。 赤と緑の混ざり。

色づきはじめの紅葉が1番綺麗。 赤と緑が混ざり，コントラストが美しい。

静と動。 赤と青。

少し早めの秋。 奥日光にて。

日光東照宮に行った 神聖な雰囲気