27 April 2008: Third day of my Japan trip, the destination is Nikkō located in Tochigi Prefecture. 8am time to take the bus who take the road of the mountain of lrohazaka. Nikkō is famous for its Toshogu, a temple dedicated to the memory of Tokugawa Leyasu, founder of the Tokugawa dynasty who ruled Japan for more than 250 years. Nikkō is considered the jewel of Japanese shrines and the site is dominated by the Nanti Mountain (2484m) and borders the Daia Gawa River.
The Toshogu is probably the most richly decorated temple in Japan. With its elaborate roofs, multiple gilding, columns and balconies with complex patterns, it is a baroque masterpiece contrary to the Zen culture. The symbol of Nikko: is the famous three monkeys (the one who sees nothing, the one who says nothing and the one who hears nothing !!!!).
The first temple, Shionryû was founded in the 8th century. From 850, three new temples were built under the leadership of Jikaku Daishi and over time and donations, the power of Nikko grew until 1950 to reach thirty temples.
Filmed with a JVC GR-D822E MiniDV with an optic of 0.8 megapixel so sorry for low quality but it was 10 years before where material was very different than now.