Nikko is the cat's meow in terms of Japanese attractions. It is often listed as one of the top ten places to visit throughout all of Japan. The area is an eye candy triple-threat; lavishly decorated temples and shrines, gorgeous waterfalls and mountains, and the possibility of seeing wild monkeys. Fortunately for us, Nikko obliged in all of the above.
The drive to Nikko is about 2 hours north from Tsukuba via Japan's insanely expensive tollways (the 2 hour drive cost us about $35). After we arrived, we learned that access to all shrines and temples could be bought for a low cost of 1,000 yen ($12) a person; an amazing deal considering that the entry for just one temple was 600 yen ($7) a pop. DONE!
Dad, Mary, and Louis being dwarfed by Gojunoto, a five-story pagoda built in 1818.
Origin of "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" at the Tosho-gu Shrine. In Japan, this phrase is taught to children and is the equivalent of the Golden Rule.
Almost everyone has heard this phrase before, but who knew that it had it's roots in Nikko?! Not this guy! Another thing I didn't know is that the three monkeys, Mizaru (hear no evil), Kikazaru (speak no evil), and Iwazaru (see no evil) are sometimes depicted with a fourth monkey, Shizaru, with his hands crossed (do no evil). Ahhh, the power of learning...
This day was Christmas and snow was gently drifting from the sky. Kate expressed her awkwardness about visiting Buddhists temples on Jesus' birthday. Duly noted. Weirdness aside, we enjoyed these hundred year old buildings (while thinking about Jesus, of course). Below are some pictures of the temples/shrines.
Standing next to the highly secluded Kokaman Gate.
Kate showing off that being short pays off, especially in Japan.
I married a rebel.
Once we were all templed out, we ventured out to a couple of the many waterfalls. The most famous waterfall, Kegon Falls, was unreachable since fresh snow prevented us from driving to it. However, we were still able to breath in waterfall mist from two others that were close by. I drove us on a nerve rackingly narrow/curvaceous road to the first waterfall.
Following our little photo op we started walking back to our rental car. After examining a small pile of rocks (and debating on throwing some into the forest) I hear Mary say
"Is that a monkey on the hill side!?"
Sure enough, as soon as we spotted one, our eyes started picking out monkeys all over the mountain! They were jumping across boulders in the stream, climbing on trees, and running around irrigation equipment. There was about 12 monkeys in total walking/jumping/climbing everywhere in the valley. One even dropped down some branches next to the pile of rocks we were just investigating. I'm glad I fought off my prepubescent urge to throw those rocks. I actually started getting nervous considering the fact that those same monkeys might have been surrounding us on our walk TO the waterfall. They could have easily ambushed us and we would have never seen it coming.
Here is a photo of one of our furry friends. A big bonus was that we saw a couple of babies hitching rides on their mother's backs.
Everyone was totally stoked by our encounter. I kept daydreaming that I was on some sort of National Geographic assignment, documenting this particular family of monkeys. I later found out that seeing these monkeys in the area is quite common (hints all of the monkey paraphernalia). Common or not, it made everybody's day to see those guys in the wild. Merry Christmas to us!
Stay tuned for the conclusion of the Christmas with the Yanks series!
-Seth
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