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My web log of NBI2003
Table of Contents:
On Sunday, our hosts took us on a tour of the Nikko-Toshogu Shrine. The day started at 7:00am with a car ride to the train station, then three trains later we were in Nikko. There is no way we would have been able to make this trip without our hosts. At one point, one of the trains stopped and was separated into two pieces, so you had to know which car to be in because the two halves of the train went to different destinations.
As you will see below, the Nikko shrine is large and beautiful. It has the tomb of General Toshogu, the man who unified Japan into one nation. The light spots on some of the pictures were caused by rain drops on my camera lens. It was a drizzly day, which added to the peace and mystery of the place.
Please click on the thumbnails to get an expanded image. I accept all the responsibility for any mistakes of fact anywhere in these pages. If you see anything particularly egregious, please let me know.
The left picture is of Minoru and his wife Shuko. On the right, Yamanoi is on my right, Shuko to my left. I had a lot of fun with all of them, and I feel full of friendship and gratitude toward all of our KEK friends. The feeling of community we all shared at this conference was truly wonderful, and has been building throughout the last four years as we get to know each other.
Thought I was kidding about the trains splitting, eh? As if travel on the rail system wasn't complicated enough for someone who can't read Japanese!
Bob taking a picture of Gordon.
On the left is a fire house, the right is the Nikko City Hall.
One of my three favorite events of the day--lunch! Isn't it beautiful?
We walked a long way on stone paths, and climbed many stairs to get to different buildings in the shrine. I can't imagine how many people might have been there if it had been sunny.
Sure wish I had thought to wipe my lens dry more often.
The computer translater came in handy more than once. A true marvel of modern technology.
This is the tomb of General Toshogu.
This rack contains prayers that people have left. Nikko is a functioning shrine, not just a tourist attraction. We saw monks and people praying, as well as souvenir vendors, sometimes side by side. The combination of commercialism and spirituality so close to each other and happening simultaneously was a little jarring at times.
There were dancers performing a traditional dance from the fishing area in the North of Japan.
The workmanship everywhere was awe inspiring. We took off our shoes at many buildings and went inside, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. Good thing I bought a picture book to remember it from. I'm sure the pictures are better than ones I would have taken.
There were many figures of gods and demons, especially as guards around gates.
When we got back to Tsukuba, we finished off the day at a barbecue restaurant. We were served platters of raw meat that we cooked ourselves over the flaming grill in the middle of the table. This was a very cultural experience for me as I hadn't eaten in this style of restaurant before.
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