Monkey-less and Wet But Worth It: Japan Diary #5

On Thursday May 13th 2010, Justin and I headed for Nikko, located in the Tochigi prefecture of Japan. Its about 140 km north of Tokyo and is a popular destination for tourists around the world and I can see why. Its home a number of important sites such as Lake Chuzenji, Kegon Falls, the mausoleum to shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who was the first shogunate of Japan from the area back in and the Futarasan Shrine which dates all the way back to year 767 and likely most famous of them all, the Nikko Tosho-go, a Shinto shrine built in 1617 during the Edo Period where Ieyasu is buried. This place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm sure you have all seen the image of the 3 monkeys, one holding his hands over his ears, one holding his hands over his eyes and the third monkey holding his hands over his mouth (kind of the; hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil type deal)? Well the 3 wise monkeys are found at Tosho-go as well. Its packed full of interesting things!



The 3 Wise Monkeys found at Tosho-go.

So we headed off to Nikko fairly early. It was going to be a long day of riding the trains because to save money, we decided that we would ride the local trains all the way there instead of the over-priced Shinkensen. Doing so would result in about a 6 hour trip. About an hour into the trip a sweet little old lady before getting off the train handed me a bag of sweets called Daifuku saying something in Japanese. I couldn't understand so Justin translated for me telling me that she wanted us to have them. She gave them to us for no other reason than we were taveling (foreign) and she was just so kind. I couldn't believe it. She is a perfect example of how the people of Japan are to strangers and how I felt during my trip.



This is a Daifuku, which is made from mochi (pounded rice cake) stuffed with a sweetened red bean paste. Not your typical North American sweet, but its typical in Japan. Some are covered in powdered sugar, but this one was straight up.

We eventually reached our destination of Nikko. Immediately coming out of the train station I was taken back by its beauty. Surrounded by mountains it seemed like it was a lost city out of some book or movie. The sun was low and beginning to set, yet it was still very warm out.


The view during our walk to the hotel.

We checked into our hotel, which was the Nikko Park Lodge, a very small hotel/hostel with a community feel to it. In the lobby there was a small fireplace, tv, books, guitars and a communal dinning area where the guests were encouraged to spend most of their off time when they weren't out exploring the area. This turned out to be more than I thought in the evening when the entire town shuts down, lights are extinguished and there is not much to do other than share your feelings. Before dinner, Justin and I set out quickly to get some quick snapshots of the area before it got too dark. When we returned we had some dinner, both of us had a vegetarian curry, which was decent. We then went up to the room and killed some time talking. It got dull quick so we decided to hit up a local onsen up the road. It was extremely small, but still enjoyable.

The next morning we got up and headed into town. We were not on the road more than 10mins before it began to rain. We had heard it was going to be a crap day, but we were hoping it wouldn't last all day...it did. The entire day was rain swept and caused for some nasty photography on my end. I was pretty bummed about most of my shots and lost enthusiasm pretty quickly because of it. Its such a beautiful area I don't think the weather did it justice. But I endured and got some decent photos too. We went to Lake Chuzjenji, and Kegon Falls. Coming back on the bus we got off early and went to a fairly well known site, The Sacred Bridge found at the bottom of Futarasan Shrine. Thanks to Justin and his tripod we ended up getting some good shots from that point. We then travelled over to visit all the shrines and tour around them for the better part of the afternoon. They were an incredible site to see. It is hard to imagine how many hours and man-power it took to build them and in such detail with no nails used. Pictures can only do so much, but I don't think any picture can do the sites justice.


The Five-Storey Pogoda


Walking amongst the shrines

The Sacred Bridge

It was beginning to get dark and some of the shrines were preparing to close so we began our walk down into town. I for one, was starving and needed to eat something. So we found the first place that looked appealing to us, well Justin because I put my trust into him to find good food since I couldn't read many signs outside shops telling me there was food inside. One thing I should note before I continue. Japan, espeically rural Japan it is sometimes extremely difficult to tell stores from houses, and stores from resturants. Unlike North America, many establishments don't have advertisements, or bright signs hanging outside their place. Tokyo is different, most places do there, but even then if you can't read kanji, you can't really tell what the place is. I noticed this first when looking for a hotel in Ueno and Justin asked me to keep my eyes peeled for one, but I couldn't tell a hotel from a post office. However, I will say, most resturants will have some sort of telling sign they in fact are a resturant like having a menu outside their door with pictures of food on it, or red hanging shoji lights outside.

Anyway, yes, the dinner. It hit the spot. We had udon and soba noodles, chicken skewers, local styled goza (potstickers, famous in the area) and tempura seasonal vegetables. Delicious. To drink Justin suggested I try this Japanese liquer called Umeshu. Its made from steeping these ume fruits while they are unripe and green and placing it in alcohol and sugar. It had a very sweet sour taste like some sort of candy. I would categorize it as a Japanese cooler or something, but it was so much better than the North American cooler. I left satisfied and not like I had just ate 5lbs of Sour Patch Kids. The most interesting part of the place was the decor. The entire resturant was covered in messages written on peices of paper, individuals ID cards, Japan Rail passes etc. Most messages thanked the owners for the food and hospitality normally leaving their name and where they were from. These things were on every wall and even on the roof. It was pretty rad.


Umeshu

The Feast

The decor

On the way home, we bought a bottle of Ginger wine and took it back to the hotel. Knowing we had a few more hourse before we could go to bed, we needed something to dull the boredom of being stuck inside a hotel with very little to do. So we drank the bottle and eventually called it a night. The next morning after breakfast we got back on the trains and headed back to Justin's place. I found the trip very short and the rain left me feeling a little jipped out as well. Overall though it was a great time and worth a trip back. I didn't get to see any of the monkeys that inhabit the forests though. Again I will blame the rain for this. God damn whore Mother Nature. Suck what's between my legs!