Gropezilla hits Japan: A giant gold man and 100mtrs of Falling Water

On a crisp Autumn Thursday in November (mainly yesterday) a tall dark hair women and her small asian side kick boarded a motor coach to head off into the hills to visit Nikko and the Kegon Waterfalls located a few hours drive outside of Tokyo. Nikko is a religious city North of Tokyo and is home to some world Heritage listed shrines and beautiful Edo period History. Please find some commentary ala Kerry for your digestion on the Nikko region

As we drove through Nikko village we passed the Shin-Kyo which is a sacred red bridge over the Daiya-gawa which is famed to be the spot where Shodo Shonin was carried across the river on the backs of two giant serpants. It was the gateway to the temples laying over the river for the travelling worshippers

No trolls under this bridge

Inside the Shrine Complex there are 4 different shrines with each of them representing a different Buddishm sect or mausoleum , these are the Rinno-Ji, The Toshu-Gu, Futaran-Jinja and Taiyuin-Byo. Lining the street of the main entry way up to the temples are hundreds of ancient Cedars that are over 400 years old, my details are a bit sketchy here but the trees were donated by someone would couldn't actually afford to make a monetary donation, so he went around and collected lots of small sapplings and planted them along the road as an offering to the gods. When walking on the road you should walk to the sides because the centre is reserved for the path of the gods.

Cedar Line Street

Fun little fact for you, the pathway up to the temple is made of crushed stone, this was done so that if enemies were approaching you would hear them coming through the sound of the crunching gravel. The gravel that was used isnt native to the area and all had to be bought in and laid.

Sadly my photos for the next bit are going to be a bit lacking as you arent allowed to take photos inside the shrines, so use your imagination. The first shrine that we entered was the Hinji-do which is best known for the crying dragon that is painted on the ceiling, a monk stands under the Dragons mouth and when he claps his sticks together the dragon roars, if you can hear the dragon roaring it is said to bring your good fortune (I heard its roar, totes means I am going to win lotto). The accoustics in the room cause this Phenominon and if you are standing anywhere else in the room and clapping the sticks you cant actually hear the dragon roaring.

Probably the prettiest of all the temples in this area is the Yomei - Mon or the Sunset gate, it is highly decorated with gold leaf and intricate brightly colour carvings of girls, flowers and birds. The people that created the gate were worried that the perfection of what they created would make the gods envious so when the final pillar was installed they put it in upside down so that this wouldnt happen. I like the idea that through imperfection, perfection is created, for me it resounds in life as well, I am not perfect but for someone I am (yes I know, pass me the bucked *spewwww*)

Sunset Gate

I bet this guy gets all the bitches

The column on the left is the Imperfect one... I will stand on the left

Inside Toshu-Gus main hall there is a painting of a Kirin which is mythical creature that is half dragon and half Giraffe, it is known to be a Symbol of peace because it likes to eat iron weapons. It is said to only appear when the world is at peace (or when you go to the 7/11 beer cabinet). Also through the sunset gate is a small wooden carving called the Nemuri-Neko, which is a very life like carving of a sleeping cat. It is said that the guy who carved the cat did so with his left hand because he had lost his right hand in a bar fight (actually that was just a blatant lie, his hand got cut off by some jealous guy who was upset that this guy had so much talent, but the carver went up yours buddy and still carved something amazing anyway, so in your face wanna be assailant). Past the sleeping cat there are stairs that go up to Ieyasu's Tomb, and let me tell you, its very beautiful, but big girl struggled with the steps, clearly daily fapping does not constitute strenous exercise and I am bloody unfit. I ended up buying a few trinkets from the top of the tomb, its ok to reward yourself after some hard work

I walked all this way for this?

Big girl is dying in the Cedar covered paths

The main attraction of the complex though has to be the Rinno-Ji, it is the house of the three golden Buddhas which are the largest wooden Buddhas in Japan. Entering into the room of the Buddhas something washed over me, maybe a kind of calm or a bit of awe. Every time I step into a temple I always wonder why I am there and feel like I am intruding on something private and sacred. As I stood in front of the middle Buddha Amida Nyorai I will admit I gave a silent prayer and paused for reflection, when you are standing in front of a giant 8mtr gold Buddha you really dont have much else you can do but be thankful. This temple also holds a statue of the healing Buddha, its apparently really good for pregnant women and people with ailments (and thank fuck I am neither of those things, though if I was up the duff the place does have about 1 million steps that I could have thrown myself down to remedy the problem)

Problem Solvered

Around the top of the Shinkusha (Sacred Stable) you can see the story of the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys. The buildings are carved with the story of the little monkeys, how they are kids, grow up and the have kids themselves the story repeats itself. I didnt want to get to close to have a look because the Stable had a horse in it.... sacred or not, I aint going anywhere near those death creatures.

Sorry I couldnt get closer, The horse was making horse noises, you know how it is

The Japanese are big believers in good fortune and all over Japan you can find things to tell your "fortune", on walking out of the Shrine Complex I noticed small white bits of paper tied to the trees, the story goes if you get a bad fortune, you tie the fortune to the branches of sacred tree and give it as an offering to the gods, its like saying "Here, I have shit luck, I am going to give it to you and it will all be wiped clean". I got a few fortunes but I am not sure if they were good or bad so I tied them to the trees just incase

A Tree of Bad Fortune

After a Japanese lunch (which let me tell you was the most amazing thing EVER!!!) we were on our way up to the Kegon Waterfalls, on the way up we made a quick stop at Lake Chuzenji which is the highest altitude lake in Japan and is used as a summer retreat for many of the foreign government representatives that are situated in Japan. It is also a great fishing spot and is well known for its Black Bass angling. We rocked up as the sun was lowering over the mountains that surround the lake, the air was crisp and the sky was blue, the air just tastes different up here.

Ahhhh hows the serenity

You can see snow on the top of the mountain in the back ground

To get up to Kegon waterfalls you have to take a road called Irohazajzeka Road, I am sure that many of you drift heads have heard this road, think the most amazing Touge road in the world, with 49 corners and sheer drop offs and you are on the money. I wonder if its strange that the bus ride there was more exciting for Kev and I than the actual waterfalls. I wish that we had have visited this road before I went up to Matsuri because being on it made me remember my passion for my car and dong hills runs.

Sighhhh..... I miss my Stella

Smash the Clutch, catch and release

100mtrs of falling water, Crazy Shit

There always has to be one doesnt there

I can highly recommend this day trip to anyone that is heading to Japan, the guide that we had was very informative and the scenery is stunning, its enough to make even me silent (and gosh we all know thats a tough thing) the bus drops you back in Shinjuku and you are close to the Government Towers which has a free observation deck on the 45th Floor and its worth the trip up if you have nothing else on. I am attracted by the sparkly lights so this was a must for me.