Yesterday was an incredibly busy day with plenty of walking and hours spent on public transport. So what did we decide to do today? Plenty of walking and hours spent on public transport. We also went to Nikko, which is a pretty big deal. According to Lonely Planet, Nikko is a sanctuary that enshrines the glories of the Edo period (1600-1896) and is one of Japan’s major attractions and a key World Heritage Site. In the 8th century a Buddhist priest Shodo Shonin established a hermitage and for centuries the surrounding mountains served as a training ground for Buddhist monks. The area wasn’t particularly famous until it became the site for the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who established the shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years. His grandson turned what was a low-key grave in to the colossal shine that took 15,000 artisans two years to build!
Rory, in his wisdom, had done a bit of planning before the trip so he had a rough idea of train times and so we made our way to Tokyo Station to catch the Shikansen which would take us North to Utsunomiya where we caught another train to Nikko. The journey was surprisingly pleasant and the uncrowded train passed through Japanese villages and farm land, heading towards Nikko, a world heritage site that is surrounded by snow capped mountains and famed for its temples.
On our way to the temple site we passed by Shin-Kyo, a replica of the 17th century bridge that marks the sacred spot where Shodo Shonin is said to have been carried across the river on the backs of two giant serpents. I don’t know about that but it looks cool and it seems to feature in every Nikko themed article and Blog post so we made sure we took plenty of pictures! From here we followed the ancient steps towards the imposing gates of Ishi-dorii To enter the shrine you pay 1300 Yen, so about £10 and in case you’re wondering, it’s absolutely worth it. Seeing the shrines and temples, lightly dusted in snow was a real once in a lifetime opportunity. It was also very nearly one of the last things I did in my lifetime as the walk up the stairs to the inner temple almost killed me.
Thankfully I managed it and we spent the day looking around the complex, marvelling at the sophistication of this civilisation. I’m lucky that Rory and I share the same interests – from traipsing around Europe’s churches so I can take pictures of stained glass windows, to carrying my camera equipment around Japan’s ancient sights, he’s an excellent travel companion. He also genuinely appreciates the gravity of the situation and the importance of visiting these historically and culturally significant places. But that sounds an awful lot like praise and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s praising Rory, so let’s get back on track...
Luckily I woke him when we arrived in Tokyo Station and we decided to find somewhere to grab dinner. I’d seen a place on TripAdvisor which is famous for it’s Okonomiyaki. Thought of as the pizza of Japan and local to the Osaka area, the Kiji Restaurant which was established in the 1950s, is supposed to be one of the best places to try this unique cuisine. Unfortunately we had to actually find the restaurant. The map showed that it was right in between two railway lines which didn’t seem right so we wandered aimlessly around the station, on the lookout. Rory’s patience was running out and to be honest I would have happily given up and gone to McDonalds, but the fact that he thought I couldn’t find it made me absolutely determined to prove him wrong and so, fuelled by a rage of stubbornness, I eventually found the Kiji Restaurant. Finding the place was quite an accomplishment as it’s located under the Tokyo Building, which is giant skyscraper that is connected to the train station via a series of underground walkways. We hadn’t realised but there is literally an entire city beneath the city here in Japan! We joined the queue and were seated quickly, right in front of the chef. We opted for a pork and potato pancake and a beef and mushroom noodle dish. They were both absolutely amazing and totally unexpected. The setting was incredibly atmospheric and I really enjoyed watching the chef making meal after meal and as an added bonus, we were the only tourists in the place! The staff were another highlight, they were so accommodating and attentive and if Japan was a country where tipping was practiced even Rory would have found it hard to do anything but leave a giant tip. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you’re a tight Englishman) they don’t do tipping in Japan so we had to make do with lots of smiles and the odd bow as we left the restaurant and headed back to Shinjuku.
Naturally we didn’t go straight back to the hotel – instead I dragged Rory to the 8th floor of a local building so I could get some ice cream from the Cold Stone Creamery. The top floor of a department store isn’t where you’d expect to find an American chain store but here in Japan it seems to be the norm and where most popular restaurants are found! My single scoop of mint ice cream with some M&Ms, Oreos and sprinkles was a whopping £5 but the servers sang me a little song so I suppose it was worth it! Fully satisfied and completely stuffed, we spend the evening packing, ready for our early trip towards Takayama in the Japanese Alps!
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