The day a dead shogun didn't kill me

I did not sleep well at the capsule hotel. The bedding was harder than it first seemed and I could never quite get comfortable. Also the business types started stirring pretty early, so I was up and ready to go a bit earlier than I'd planned and figured I might as well get on my way to Nikko and hopefully avoid the rush.

There were a couple of transfers, but they went smoothly. (The Hyperdia app is great for planning train transit in Japan!) It got a bit crowded for a stretch north of where I got on, but I'd managed a seat and tried to zone out until my stop. I got onto the Tobu Nikko train, realizing it was turning out to be a gorgeous, bright morning, and ended up next to a lady who was working on her laptop, At some point she glanced over, smiled and said, "You going to Nikko?" and that's how I met Yoko-san, originally from the Nikko area and now living in Saitama, and we chatted the whole way up. I quoted John Muir: "The mountains are calling and I must go." We got him pulled up on her Japanese version of Wikipedia and I showed her photos of Yosemite because she said she wanted to visit the US. She even said her sister was coming to pick her up and did I want a lift to my ryokan? However, when we got to Tobu Nikko station, the sister had not arrived and I was able to bow out gracefully and hop the bus. We've exchanged Facebook info....

I found Turtle Inn Nikko without much trouble. It's just a couple blocks off the main street and right on the river (or should I say one of the two rivers that flows through the area, in a quiet neighborhood. My host was fluent in English, cheerfully accepted custody of my bags, and supplied me with maps and suggestions about things to see. (Note: most of the places I've been booked into do not allow check in before 4PM - this lets them get their post-check-out cleaning done in peace and quiet. However, they can usually store your luggage for you before and even after check out, which makes sightseeing easier.) 

I walked back down river and up a couple streets and ended up on a beautiful gravel avenue through the woods between Futarasan-jinja shrine and Tosho-gu, which was my first stop.

You would think I'd be used to mob scenes by now, and Nikko is a tourist magnet. Tosho-gu, the shrine built to house the resting place of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu by his son in 1617 is a riot of gaudy color and gold leaf. Ieyasu was the warlord who won control of Japan in 1603 and was granted by the Emperor the right to be called shogun, a term sometimes translated as "barbarian quelling generalissimo." There had been shoguns before, but this one imposed order and control of a unified Japan after nearly a century of what was known as the Age of Battles (Sengoku Jidai) and began a period of relative peace under his and his heirs rule known as the Edo period.

First you come up a wide sloping stair, then there's a steep set of steps up to the shrine - again with the ridiculously high risers. You're swept in on a tide of bodies and you might even get shoved by an impatient senior citizen, and then you're faced with gold leaf and color on every structure in the place. The famous monkey carvings on the stable are extremely popular, as is a stupid, hard to see carving of a sleeping cat that's impossible to get a decent photo of as it's up under the roof and nine hundred camera waving people are all trying to get up to that doorway. The internet has better photos than the blurry crap I deleted just now, you can see them here.

Then it's up over 200 stone steps to the very top of the hill behind the main shrine buildings to the final resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's a hard climb unless you're a school kid who's just spent three hours on a bus. I had to stop at each landing - and was relieved that I was not the only older adult doing so - but I made it all the way to the top - and more importantly, despite the screams of tendonitis it was provoking in my right ankle, back down again. I finally had had enough and pretty much seen most of it, so I headed for the gates. I did stop and purchase a monkey amulet from one of the shrine attendants - I chose "Speak no Evil," and then I bought a lovely warm cup of fresh amazake and sat on a step to drink it and rest my feet. This fermented rice drink is sweet, with a distinctly ricey flavor and a texture like a very, very thin gruel.

I doubled back to go look around at Futarasan as long as I was there - it also looked like there wouldn't be too much climbing. Evidently it has romantic associations, as I passed a shimenawa wrapped pair of "sweetheart trees." Inside the shrine gates was a wishing arch - one is supposed to go through it three times, circling right, then left, then right again, for luck in love. Heart shaped frames were covered with fortunes. I figure if the kami had anything to say about it, they would've done something for me a long time ago, but still, it was interesting.

At this point I was kind of peopled out, a little tired and needing a snack. I was also thinking I needed to hit an ATM before heading back to Tokyo for my last day, so I found a nearby Lawson's, took out some money, bought a small "cider" (sort of a lemon lime soda) and a ham and lettuce sandwich on that crazy white bread. I don't know what they do to the lettuce either, but it's like the best lettuce ever. In a sandwich that costs about $2 US. I sat outside and ate it, then I figured I would take my host's advice and head down along the Daiwa river.

Remember Jizo Bosatsu from yesterday? Well, he's back. I passed a small group near a tea shop that was closed. I found myself walking in what turned out to be a lovely park, easy path and some nice fall color starting to make itself known. Next thing I knew I was entering a quiet, shady little temple called Jiunji. There were a couple of people, but it was practically like having it all to myself, with only bird calls and the rushing of the river. And more Jizo statues. Some recognizable with individual features, some little more than piles of worn, broken stone, each one wearing a little red knitted cap and a bib that someone had made for him. This close to the river, many were damaged by flooding. Known by several local names, the evocative "Bake Jizo" or "Phantom Jizo" refers to the fact that people kept trying to keep counting how many there are and the number always seems to keep changing. Whether you believe that or not, the place definitely had an interesting feel to it, cool, green, charged by the sound of the river. Some might find it spooky, but I didn't. Jizo is a kindly bodisattva, not a malevolent one.

If you look at the pictures of the river, check out the volcanic lava flows and the amazing, clear blue of the water. It's really that color. The river gorge is known as the Kanmangafuchi Abyss on the English language signs and was formed about 7000 by an eruption of Mount Nantai. It was gorgeous.

I finished out my day with a walk further down into town to find dinner - I ended up in the one of three places I could find that was open and had chicken meatballs on skewers in a sweet teriyaki sauce, gyoza (dumplings) and a beer. Just enough food and nice people. Then back to the Inn to have a refreshing soak in their hot onsen tub (presided over by a grumpy looking stone turtle). I have a lovely, traditional room at the back of the house and I can hear the river rushing busily along in the dark. I should sleep very well.

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