[Kirk in normal font. Elaine in bold font.]
Traveled to Nikko today. Nikko is a small town about 200km north of Tokyo. We decided to visit Nikko as Kyle listed the Toshogu shrine as one of the sites to see.
We left our hotel at 8:30 and didn’t arrive in Nikko until just before 15:00. We had an hour delay because we missed a connection in Utsunomiya.
Kali has been wanting mochi and it seems that Tochigi prefecture is known as Strawberry Kingdom. So serendipitous - we picked up some fresh strawberry mochi in Utsunomiya and all I can say is, wow those are good!
We were booked for one night in Nikko Hoshino Yado. They had a shuttle service to and from the ryokan and the train stations. We weren’t sure where to wait for them, so when I inquired at the info booth at the train station, they called the ryokan and got all the info for us. We waited for our ride in a little waiting room inside the train station. It was a quick ride up the hill to the hotel. Nikko is not very big but very pretty.
The hotel is a bit older but well maintained. This was my only ask for this trip - a stay in a ryokan, a visit to the onsen and a kaiseki dinner! We only stayed one night so I booked the private onsen to make sure we got a chance to experience it.
We got into Nikko just before 15:00. By the time we were settled into our room there wasn’t a lot of time left before sunset (around 16:30). All the shrines are really close to the hotel, within 15 minutes walking distance, so we thought we’d see what we could before dinner.
In Nikko you are definitely no longer in any urban setting. The air is so clear and there is no feeling of being rushed for anything. Everything just takes whatever time it takes.
At the bottom of the hill from the hotel was the Shinkyo Bridge. The bridge and its mountain backdrop is one of Japan’s most famous natural scenes and is ranked as one of Japan’s three finest bridges.
After crossing the main road, we are at one of the access points to a number of shrines. The air was definitely chillier in the mountains than in the city but not very cold. Before our trip, Nikko temperatures were looking to be about 10deg C lower than Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. We were super worried about snow and freezing temperatures.
Japan (probably everywhere) is experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures this winter. All the photos I had seen of the Kyoto, Osaka and Nikko during December and January showed a lot of snow! We completely lucked out. We have not experienced any really low temperatures. The few times it has gone below 0deg C was in the wee hours before 6 or 7am.
Can’t imagine all the labour required to build the gates and shrines.
We were fortunate to be able to see the shrines at dusk. Definitely a different experience. There were very few people around and the lighting made it seem a bit … magical seems inappropriate of a word, can’t think of the right descriptive word.
After visiting the shrines and before heading back to ryokan, we went into a little tourist shop. We picked up a couple amulets for souvenirs. The kids picked up a couple local snacks to try.
Back at the ryokan we settled in and got ready for dinner. We were each provided a yukata to wear while here. They can be worn to the baths, to dinner and bed.
I booked a kaiseki dinner. We are not foodies by a long shot, but we do like food. I thought it would be a nice treat to try one in a ryokan and to sample dishes specific to the area. The description of kaiseki cuisine:
“At the heart of kaiseki dining is the Japanese principle of shun, or taking ingredients at the peak of their freshness. Dishes are presented simply, without artifice. This is done not only to ensure that the true flavor of each ingredient be expressed, but also to properly display each and every one and the height of their natural beauty, thus creating the perfect synergy between cuisine and artistic expression.”
Yeah, a bit deep for our family, but we should try out some culture once in a while… There is an entire description about each of the courses. Way too much information, but if interested here is a link:
https://savorjapan.com/contents/more-to-savor/kaiseki-cuisine-japans-artful-culinary-tradition-explained/
Dinner was a lot of food! It was different and we weren’t really sure what we were eating but it was definitely an experience. By the end of the dinner I realized there was a menu on the table - what we saw was in Japanese but maybe there was English on the other side. Sadly I forgot to grab or take a picture of it.
After dinner we all sort of relaxed before trying out the private onsen. I really wanted to try out the public bath as it had an outdoor feature, but it turns out that in the private onsen there was a sliding door so that it was almost like being outside…