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My trip to Nikko started nice and early at 7:45am in front of the Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku. From there we were all taken to the Bus departure station Daimon Station. It’s was quite a pleasent 3 hour bus ride north to Toshogo Shrine.

From there we walked in and around the shrine for about 2 hours and learnt a lot about Japanese history, the Shoguns, Emperors and basically the beginings of todays Japan. One of the most interesting things to see was the origin of the famous “Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil”.
I guess it had to originate from somewhere, I just wasn’t aware it was from Japan. The Nikko Toshogu Shrine, also known as the Sacred Stable, in Japan has a carving of three wise monkeys. Many scholars believe the monkeys were carved as a visual representation of the religious principle, “If we do not hear, see, or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil.” Others believe that the saying originated from a Japanese play on words. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” translated into Japanese is, “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru.” The Japanese word for monkey is “saru”, and sounds very similar to the verb-ending “zaru”. It is easy to see how the saying may have originated from a fun play on words.

The shrine also showed how Shinto-ism and The Nikko Toshogu Shrine, also known as the Sacred Stable, in Japan has a carving of three wise monkeys. Many scholars believe the monkeys were carved as a visual representation of the religious principle, “If we do not hear, see, or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil.” Others believe that the saying originated from a Japanese play on words. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” translated into Japanese is, “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru.” The Japanese word for monkey is “saru”, and sounds very similar to the verb-ending “zaru”. It is easy to see how the saying may have originated from a fun play on words.

The shrine also demonstarted the harmonious blend between the traditional Japanese religion “SHINTOISM” and the introduced religion of “BUDDHISM”. The Toshogu is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. The shrine is dedicated to the spirits of Ieyasu and two other of Japan’s most influential historical personalities. Countless wood carvings and large amounts of gold leaf were used to decorate the buildings in a way not seen elsewhere in Japan.

After the shrine the tour group split in two, 4 of us going to the Edo Village/ Nija Theme park about 20minutes by taxi, and the other 40 people were going to try their luck at going to Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Waterfall. At this time of year Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Waterfall are about a 3 hour bus ride from the shrine instead of the usual 40 minutes. We definately choose the correct option.

After we had the rest of our day being dazzled by Ninja antics and practicing of every type of weopon Ninja’s used it was time to make the 3 hour journey back to Tokyo by train. As the train ride progressed and my consumption of alcohol increased I met some Japanese guys on their way back from a Golfing weekend. Needless to say they were very excited to have me sit with them and drink sake all the way back to Tokyo. Needless to say Monday was a little dusty. I have include a few nice pictures for you all to enjoy.

This post is tagged japanese shrine, Nikko, The Nikko Toshogu Shrine