walking in sacred places: Nikko

Nikko - sacred place and natural splendours

It's early May and we left Tokyo and travelled to Nikko with our friend Sue. Nikko is in a mountainous region known for its shrines and temples as well as its natural beauty. The climate is pretty cool at this time of the year. We are staying at our friends' house - Akamon (literally translated into red gate). It's a Japanese style house built around 1890 by an American diplomat. The house is a large two-storey place on a wooded piece of land with a stream running through it. The views from the traditional windows is one of greenery with dappled sunlight coming through. We spent the first day walking around the town getting acquainted with the place. The next day over dinner we got acquainted with our neighbours. The third day we went out for a beautiful three and one half hour walk/hike at Lake Chuzenji. The weather was gorgeous -sunny and warm. We had a nice picnic there and the views were magnificent, especially when we came upon flowering trees overlooking the lake. On Monday, Chris worked in the garden raking leaves most of the day and later in the afternoon we walked up to the nearby dam, also a pretty walk. It seems that wherever we walk there is water flowing, in streams, creeks, waterfalls, ponds etc. It's really a place with a lot of water. On Tuesday I went to the farmer's market to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Then I had lunch with our neighbour at a quaint little cafe/bakery where the family virtually grows and makes everything they serve. Later she took me to see the stables where the sacred horses for the shrine are kept. We had a chance to feed them carrots, so we got nice and close to them. They are beautiful graceful creatures. That same afternoon we went for a walk in an area where a lot of wild azaleas grow. The wild azaleas are really quite a sight to see. It was another wonderful walk all along a river, through woods and later near a waterfall. Our stay here is being made very pleasant by the fact that we are getting acquainted with the people as well as the many little narrow lanes and walks up in the shrine areas and beyond.

http://nikko-japan.org