On Sunday, I met up with Karen and Shing, and we went to Nikkō!

^The Tobu 100 series (SPACIA) for the trainspotters

The first stop was Tōshō-gū. It had rained earlier in the morning, and everything was lush.

The stable for the shrine’s sacred horses was decorated with carvings of the three wise monkeys

Guess who’s not a student on a field trip?!

^excellent coordination of colors!

More relief carvings… they decorated nearly every structure.

Carvings above the Karamon.

Hundreds of stone steps lead us through a cryptomeria forest…

…to the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu

Photography was forbidden is most areas… but we were able to participate in a ceremony at the main shrine, and we were able to catch an info session about Nakiryu (the crying dragon) at Yakushi-doh Hall.

So for photos… here’s Kami-jinko, one of the three sacred warehouses at the complex.

View of the entrance area…

We then went to Futarasan jinja

Sukibe at Futarasan jinja

A building for Mikoshi

Taro-maru, a 2.62-meter long sword located in Daikokuden

^how much does a 2.62m long sword weigh? 7.62 kilograms!

and of course, there were momiji everywhere!

Things started to close around 4-5pm, so we went back to the city center, snacked, shopped for export quality souvenirs, and caught a train back to Asakusa. After some yakiniku, we all headed home  

Anywho, here’s a teaser for my next trip… I’ll be flying on my first project!