For anyone who has traveled to Japan, a seminal experience you have to do at least once (and hopefully shall do many times) is a stay at a ryokan. For an outsider, imagine a hotel (with or without onsen (hot spring) baths), world-class service, and dining. There are many types, with differences between styles in each city, neighborhood, and even change with seasons. THere are even differences between traditional ones (which have you sleep on a tatami mat on the floor) and ones which are western (more traditional beds, though even these can have very Japanese aesthetics.)
We'd only stayed at one such accommodation so far in Takayama, which left much to be desired, with the rest of our trips being at more traditional Western hotels. This hotel, however, was one I earmarked not only for its close location to all the World Heritage sites in Nikko but also because it has great reviews and beautiful pictures. The Nikko Hoshinoyado sits kitty-corner to a more famous ryokan (which may or may not be its parent company; I am unsure) called the Nikko Kanaya Hotel. I don't know much about that hotel, but it's very old and very well esteemed. Our ryokan overlooked the streets and part of the temples of Nikko on a little hill just below it, surrounded by beautiful wooded hills. It included a little fox Inari shrine, much to my amusement, and from the moment we entered that place, our lives were irrevocably changed.
The Japanese pride themselves on service. Everything from a look to a gesture, the way a leaf hits the light, and the subtlest taste of sushi is something that they consider. This hotel met us, foreigners, as if we were friends immediately. Warm smiles, our bags taken swiftly to our room, and tea and sweets served. Of course, this is perhaps typical of any hotel, but there's an intimacy to it, something I struggle now to define in words. You feel like you are the most important person in the world in that moment, and that all they want you to do is feel that way.
The lobby of the hotel was warm and well appointed, with nice comfy furniture and a beautiful view of a garden, and our little room was the same, with tatami mat floors, an alcove with fresh ikebana, and a scroll hanging on the wall.
We took a quick walk back through the area. We wandered through the shrines and up a hill to a small area that we hadn't explored before—so a mix of old and new. Our route up to this area, Takinoo-jinja, took us up the mountain through Toshogu, Rinnoji Temple, and Futarasan Shrines. I was grateful for a better camera this time because my pictures on our last trip did not do these buildings justice. Having several days to view them without crowds also was an enormous boon.
I cannot stress the beauty of these wooden structures. The carvings are immaculate, the colors extraordinary. You see each leaf, each twist of cloud, and each scale of a dragon. There are people and fantastical creatures all over the place, including famous ones like the 3 Monkeys, elephants as imagined by the Japanese who had never seen an elephant, and many others. The austere silence surrounds you. Trees of cedar rise up all around, with streams of light and sometimes fog or mist between. It is a unique otherworld, a place to reflect on the powerful men of the Tokugawa Shogunate who built these buildings. Here their foremost leaders and founders (Ieyasu and his grandson) are buried. Supposedly the Toshogu shrine took thousands of artisans' time to build as a passion project for Grandpa Ieyasu by the grandson.
Even today the temples are in a constant state of activity. Nikko is almost like a rainforest environment, very damp and moist, and so these wooden temples decay quickly. It takes concerted effort to maintain their beauty, but even the touch of time makes them magnificent. One can wander for hours and days and see something new. Look up under eaves, down between lattices, and you will discover wonders to excite and entice. It's a woodworker's heaven.
We wound our way up to Takinoo Shrine through the cedar forest, past waterfalls along a mountain path. Here and there were more small shrines, or ruins. At one point there was our friend the foxes again, and then a stone surrounded by a low wall. Before long we crested the hill and saw Takinoo. The shrine itself is a simple wooden structure, and its major feature is the Torii gate in front of it. This gate features a curious round hole in its apex, and supposedly if you throw a stone through the hole, you will have great luck in matchmaking or life. I, of course, tried unsuccessfully.
The real star of the show was the walk itself through that wood. I imagine many of the trees were planted by those who built the shrines, and chances are lumber was supplied locally for the structures and still is. Nikko is still a lumber/woodworking town. Wandering here, one almost expects to come around the corner and see a spirit staring through the mists, behind a tree or a tunnel to some distant place that mortals should not dare to tread. Yet we do anyways; we wander these otherworlds because they excite us. We yearn to be a part of it.
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