nikko lanterns

Oh dear, I have some catching up to do, so I will start with Nikko which is freshest in my memory. Finding last minute travel to Kyoto prohibitivly expensive we opted for a pretty long day trip to Nikko. Its about an hour on the bullet train, then another 40 on a wee little local train, but like most travel in Japan, once you get past the confusion that is Tokyo station its all pretty easy. There is a huge temple complex in Nikko with tiers of beautiful shrines climbing up hills of giant cedars. Some of the cedar trees are as big as redwoods, they must be very very old. The principle monument, Tosho-gu was built for a war lord who was 'so splendid and powerful' he became a god. His remains were enshrined at Nikko and he was given an honorific name for the afterlife ' Tosho Daigongen, The Great Incarnation who illuminates the East'. The temple was commisioned by his grandson, and is a pretty elaborate affair, every surface is carved with fantastic animals in elaborate detail and shimmering gold leaf. I dont really seem to have a good picture of the temple, as I often forget to photograph the obvious, but fail in my quest to capture something more allusive. We had a great morning wandering from temple to temple in the mist which steadily evolved into rain.