Nikko Toshogu Shrine Tickets

Nikko Toshogu is the shrine complex where Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the shogunate that ruled Japan for 250 years, is enshrined as a deity, and nothing else in the country looks like it. Where most shrines whisper in plain timber, Toshogu shouts in gold leaf and carving, thousands of painted figures crowding every gate and eave in a mountain forest of giant cedars.

What to look for

The Yomeimon Gate is the celebrated centrepiece, so dense with ornament that it earned the nickname of the gate you could stare at until sundown. Seek out the famous carvings that have entered world culture: the three wise monkeys covering eyes, ears and mouth on the sacred stable, and the tiny sleeping cat above a side passage. Beyond it, a long stair climbs through the cedars to Ieyasu’s surprisingly austere tomb, a contrast that is the point of the whole complex. The crying dragon ceiling, demonstrated with wooden clappers, rounds out the essentials.

Visiting well

Arrive early or late in the day to dodge the tour buses, wear decent shoes for the stone stairs, and allow at least ninety minutes for the shrine alone. The neighbouring temples and the red Shinkyo bridge extend the visit into a full day, and Nikko’s mountain air rewards an unhurried pace.

Getting there

From Tokyo, the Tobu Railway runs direct limited express trains from Asakusa to Tobu-Nikko in around two hours, and JR pass holders can travel via Utsunomiya to JR Nikko. From either station, buses climb to the Shinkyo bridge area in ten minutes, or it is a thirty minute uphill walk through town.

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