No ‘Nikko’tine Please

May 27, 2018 Peter 0 Comments

Autumn is firmly upon us and in search of the perfect Instagram picture, or, I mean, a lovely day in a fantastic autumnal setting, I ventured two hours outside of my usual haunt – Tokyo – to the picturesque town of Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture. Nikko was once a center of Buddhist and Shinto teachings and as a result, has many temples and shrines to visit which are surrounded by a tranquil and beautiful setting, making it the perfect place for a day or weekend trip. There are plenty of lakes, waterfalls, mountains and rivers to check out as well, if, like me, you feel a little ‘templed’ out in Japan.

I began my journey in Kita-Senju, somewhat of a commuter town which connects Tokyo to the north and east. From, Kita-Senju it took just short of two hours and cost only ¥2390 single (about £16). There are faster, more expensive ways of getting there, as well as using local trains which will only cost you about £10 but take over three hours. As it was an autumnal Saturday, due to Nikko’s popularity, my first train was actually sold out meaning I had time to kill. I spent the hour pretending I might actually want to buy one of these books below in a Japanese bookstore before confirming all Asian stereotypes of westerners by going to a Starbucks. Thankfully, I decided not to frequent the pub or McDonalds later that day to complete the holy trinity.

I eventually boarded my wonderfully heated train to Nikko and was instantly transported back to the 80s. As I sat down in my mustard coloured velvet-covered seat, the men around me vigorously tried to read their broadsheet newspapers. Apparently they’re still in existence. The journey was super comfortable and when you eventually leave Tokyo’s seemingly endless suburbia, the views of the plains and ever encroaching mountains are very pleasing. Even on a Saturday, I was constantly reminded of Japan’s determination to break the world record for overtime worked, as the businessman beside me worked furiously, intermittently sighing every 5-10 minutes. I was lucky to go on a day where, despite the temperature, the weather was virtually perfect and was able to enjoy the autumnal colours of the tree covered hills and mountains. When I reached Nikko after midday, I was greeted by the scene below beside the train tracks, making it, probably, the prettiest approach to a train station I’ve seen. My hopes of getting lost in reds, browns, oranges and yellows seemed positive.

My first port of call was to walk to the Kirifuri waterfall, which according to my cartoon map, was definitely within walking distance. I came out of the station and walking the opposite direction from every other tourist, prayed I hadn’t seriously misjudged the GTA style map I picked up at the station, before crossing the river and walking up into the hills you can see above. For somebody who had spent every previous weekend since the dawn of time in the pub, it felt relaxing to be presented with such views and clean, mountain air.

After spotting a sign for ‘Kirifuri Highlands’ being over 10 kilometres away, I started to think I’d made a serious mistake but kept walking into the hills, scrunching my way through the thousands of fallen leaves – a perfect walk for any bubblewrap enthusiasts. It wasn’t until I caught up with the only other person on the road – a young guy from Singapore – that I felt a bit more comfortable. Of course, being from Singapore, I had to ask him that crucial question.

‘Is chewing gum really banned in Singapore?’

It is.

When I reached the falls, what I really expected to find was this (above). Instead, it turns out I was perhaps, a week or two too late and was presented with the scene below. It’s still a stunning scene but more closely resembles Cormac McCarthy’s The Road than that famous autumn scene in When Harry Met Sally.

By this point, I hadn’t eaten in roughly 6 hours so it was time to walk back down the hill and try some local food. Nikko is famous for ‘yuba’ – a type of tofu skin – and it seems to be incorporated into a number of dishes here such as with ramen, in ice cream and, even, in cookies. I decided to take the horribly British option and ruin the goodness of it by getting it deep fried. It tasted amazing though and the saltiness of the batter combined with the sweetness of the red bean wrapped in yuba, was something I’ve never experienced before. The moral of the story here – ruin more of your healthy foods with batter.

There are a large number of temples and shrines in Nikko; many of which are contained within a large heritatge site that includes Toshogu Shrine and Rinnoji Temple. The temple is currently being renovated, however, so if you go now, you will be treated to the site of a giant warehouse which could include anything from the ruins of the Titanic to Hugh Heffner’s collection of pornography. You can venture inside, however, for a small fee. To reach them, I walked for about 15 minutes from Nikko train station along it’s spacious but homely main street. The street sells everything from crepes and mochi – a sticky rice snack smashed into a gluttonous ball – to antiques, crafts and other local delicacies. Eventually you will reach Shinkyo Bridge, which you can see below and is regarded as the gateway to Nikko’s major religious complex. Rumour has it that locals found it impossible to cross the bustling river below until two magical snakes were cast to create the beautiful bridge pictured. Due to St.Patrick banishing all of the snakes from Ireland, it must be the reason we have very few spectacular bridges back home. That pesky Welshman. You can actually cross the bridge for around 300yen but you have to return from whence you came; completely defeating it’s purpose as a bridge.

You just know somebody has pulled their pants down and learnt this the hard way… (Above)

Whilst Nikko’s temples and shrines may be one of their most popular tourist attractions, if you’re like me and don’t particularly like queuing and large crowds then maybe avoid them on the weekend. Whilst Toshogu Shrine, in particular, is one of the most lavishly decorated shrines in Japan and worth checking out, on the weekend it’s really difficult to appreciate the beauty of it with the amount of noise, people and selfie sticks floating dangerously close to your face. Temples and shrines are meant to be tranquil and peaceful places but, unfortunately, on weekends, bloody tourists like myself who have no idea what they’re taking pictures of just fill the places up. Definitely go here on a weekday though. Or if it rains…

‘Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.’ You heard it from these monkeys first…

The gate to Toshogu Shrine (above) and some of it’s intricate carvings and detail (below).

Toshogu Shrine itself is also being renovated and entry is forbidden but you can see some of it’s lavish detail (above) and the picture below was taken from the hall of the ‘Crying Dragon.’ In truth, the dragon doesn’t look so much like it’s crying but more having a really sucky day at the office but a tour guide will give you a demonstation on the acoustics of the hall which is quite impressive before plugging some religious charms they’d like you to buy. This is all included in the price of your entrance ticket to the shrine (1300yen/£7-8). Unfortunately, photography is banned in the hall but a simple Google search should show you the world’s most downbeat dragon.

As the sun began to set I wanted to explore one final location in Nikko – the Kanmangafuchi Abyss. The Abyss is a small gorge formed by a previous volcanic eruption from the nearby Mount Nantai. The gorge is lined by around 70 Bodhisattvas called ‘Jizo’ which are said to look after and care for the dead. Their size and shape vary whilst they look out peacefully, in sharp contrast to the raging gorge below. As I went around sundown, unlike the complex before, there were very few people in the area which has more of a rural, countryside feel. The dying light created a very eerie scene, fitting for those watching over the dead which you can check out in the video and photos below.