Lindsay ArakawaFirst to rec
“A MUST-VISIT on your trip to Nikkō and you'll probably see signs for it left and right so it would probs be a crime not to go. Nikkō Tōshōgū (日光東照宮) is the mausoleum and shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, a very important warlord in Japanese history who ended over a century of civil war and founded the Edo shogunate in 1603.
The shrine grounds include 55 structures in total, and 8 of them are National Treasures and 34 are Important Cultural Properties! It's truly nothing like I've seen before and I feel like I've been to many many shrines throughout Japan.
There are so many beautiful intricate carvings throughout the structures and some very famous ones are ones like the 三猿 (three wise monkeys aka see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and there is the very cute Nemuri-neko or 眠り猫, which mens "sleeping cat" and can be kind of hard to miss at first if you're not paying attention!!
There was so much to see when we visited and we bought our tickets online before we went to avoid the long lines when we arrived.
📍 2301 Sannai, Nikkō-shi, Tochigi 321-1431
🕐 Apr–Oct 9:00–17:00 / Nov–Mar 9:00–16:00(last entry 30 min before closing)
💴 Adult/High school ¥1,600 / Elementary & junior high ¥550
💴 With Treasure Museum: Adult ¥2,400 / Child ¥870
📞 0288-54-0560
🔗 toshogu.jp”