The detailed carvings are absolutely amazing.
The last stop on our two week adventure through Japan was the town of Nikko. Nikko is known for it's stunning mountain views and World Heritage shrines and temples. Since it was April (exactly a year ago! Man, time is flying by!) we thought Japan would be nice and warm, but to our surprise it was absolutely freezing. Nothing like wearing two coats and two pairs of pants while hiking around the forests of Nikko! Shinkyo Bridge, a sacred bridge constructed in 1636. Kinda cool, it's ranked as one of Japan's finest bridges. A five-story pagoda next to the entrance of the Toshogu Shrine. The first thing you notice about the Toshogu Shrine is that it's unlike any other in Japan. Most shrines are minimalistic in nature and blend into the surroundings...this one is colorful and full of beautiful carvings. The details are absolutely amazing and one can spend hours photographing every single building on the shrine grounds. There are actually a few buildings, among them the Sacred Stable, it's famous for it's carving of the three wise monkeys as well as a "sacred horse." Ha! Don't ask me, I don't know what the deal with the horse is, other than it lives on the shrine grounds, has service at the stable from 9:30-noon and it's a gift from New Zealand. Somehow it's magical and sacred. "Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil" monkeys! Very cool to see in person but honestly the carving is much smaller than I thought it would be. It's surrounded by other monkey carvings that go all the way around the "Scared Stable." The building is actually very "blah" compared to others in the area, it's very simple and brown. If you don't look close enough you can totally miss it...well that is until you see a massive white horse inside and figure it's worth a look. Can't really miss a giant white horse! Apparently it took 15,000 craftsman two years, using 2.5 million sheets of gold leaf to complete the shrine! Impressive. The detailed carvings are absolutely amazing. There is another famous carving at Toshogu Shrine of a sleeping cat. You have to pay extra to see it but after hearing the other tourists complaining how the cat carving was the size of a match box we decided to pass. There were too many other beautiful large carvings to see. Plus we both don't like cats. So there is that! We even stumbled upon an authentic Japanese wedding! Talk about luck of the draw. The Taiyuinbyo mausoleum, once again very impressive with all the design details and colors. I love these two pictures of my mom. Too funny! Hopefully the Shinto gods have a sense of humor ;) Scary statues to ward off evil spirits...or maybe my mom's sense of humor. For some reason, she didn't want to do funny poses with these guys below. Scaredy cat! After a whole day of exploring in the cold we were ready for a break...some hot green tea and miso soup. Yummy!
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