Return to Nikko

This last weekend we went to Nikko, a mountainous historical national park,  about 2 hours north of Tokyo.  I had been there on a snowy winter day with a group led by our mayor about 1989 or 1990 and the only thing I could remember was a museum and a giant torii gate in a heavy snow fall.   This time it was hot weather and while cooler than Tokyo, where I live now, still energy-sapping. Most people go there for the World Heritage Site temples and shrines but after about a half-hour of walking through them with hordes of schoolchildren I had had enough and spent the rest of the two-day outing hiking and going to onsens.  I appreciate culture a lot but I’ve had enough of “popular” temples and shrines that attract legions of tourists.  I don’t sense anything spiritual at such places and they seem to be more tourist attraction than spiritual destination.  I prefer a nice, quiet, mountain temple with winds rushing through pines.  A place one can actually think thoughts.

Nikko is in the mountains with a river running through it and a short hike takes you to a beautiful stretch of the river that has worn its way through solid rock and roars along in foamy blueness that makes one want to jump in on a hot day.  But to do so would be life-threatening.  So we satisfied ourselves as quiet bystanders kept company by a long row of ancient jizo statues. We stayed in a motel/hostel and since we booked only the day before we had to settle for sleeping in the mixed dorm of the Nikko Park Lodge on the side of a mountain – which turned out to be fine.  The younger hostelers had grabbed the bottom bunks so we took the upper bunks but it was comfortable and I had the advantage of sleeping with a large window above my head and the full moon visible through the cypress trees overhead.  Nice.

The Tobu Line train to and from Nikko cost only 3600 yen and included entrance to the temples and rides on buses in Nikko.  My only complaint was the poor air conditioning on the train and the straight-backed and uncomfortable seats that kept me squirming.  But a weekend well worth a little squirming.