Budget Trouble

Walk in the woods - behind the shrine complex in Nikko

Last Thursday we had some errands to run, and as much as I hate errands, I can’t complain too much in this case. One of those errands brought us to Futaara shrine in Nikko. See what I mean? There are plenty of a lot worse places you could be forced to visit on official business. Like the Immigration Office in Utsunomiya, or the drivers license testing center in Kanuma. I’ll take the Shrine and Temple complex anytime.

Since we are chronic cheapskates and hate paying for parking (which, as you can imagine, is rather expensive in touristy areas, and you don’t get any more touristy than Sannai in Nikko), we did what we always do. Instead of stopping at one of the big parking lots nearby Rinnoji, we continued up the mountain, past the grave of monk Shodo, towards Takinoo shrine.

Yep, along this road. Be careful, it's narrow.

You want to park for free when visiting Nikko? Then you gotta do the same. Follow the narrow, twisty road along the river and soon you will see plenty of spaces where you can park your car, 100% legally, for free.

The downside of this arrangement is that you still need to walk to the shrines. But you walk alone, or almost alone, through the woods. There are no loud tourist crowds, no information booths, no commotion. Just you and a stone path through the forest. But don’t worry, the path is well maintained. It’s the same path that the shinto priests use during Yayoi festival when they carry mikoshi back from Takinoo shrine to Futaara.

Not a soul in sight.

The path will take you by the entrance to Mt. Nyoho. Seeing the sign there, I realized that it might be a good idea to climb this mountain as a practice run for next year’s Mt. Nantai midnight extravaganza. Yes, we’ll be climbing that mountain again. And again - at night.

Sad, this is the shrine by the entrance to Mt. Nyoho. People, who do that, should be tarred and feathered and made to wear a sign around the neck proclaiming "I have an IQ of a stool sample." And Marielle (because I'm pretty sure that's who wrote it - judging from the crossed out "Andrea" above) - yes, you're stupid. Anyone who disrespects any place of worship like that is a moron. Case closed.

But Nyoho is relatively easy to climb, or at least those familiar with it say so, and I’d like to believe them. So maybe in September when the weather’s nice and not too hot, we'd give it a try. Are you up for some Nikko mountain climbing this fall? You're welcome to join us. This time we’ll do it, like normal people, during daytime.

Statue at the entrance to Mt. Nyoho.

Following this stone path to Futaara, you’ll exit the woods at the back of the shrine. You’ll also get to see a lovely view of Taiyuin along the way (it will be on the right).

And, as an added bonus, you can also stop by the grave of Ieyasu Tokugawa’s horse (one of them, anyway, presumably he had more than one). Now, how’s that for special? If you consider that the dude never actually visited Nikko when he was alive, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Apparently when Ieyasu's spirit was transferred to Toshogu, his faithful horse came to Nikko as well. Once in Nikko, the horse's job was to serve in ritual ceremonies. I guess those ceremonies when shinto priests get to ride horses and such. And then the poor creature ended up in the woods.

So yeah, now you know where the locals park when they visit the shrines in Nikko.

Afternoon in Ueno

While in Tokyo, in addition to getting shot in the face (well, I did, Dr Trouble just watched), we visited Ueno. Why Ueno? No particular reason, other than it's the last stop on the Utsunomiya line.

We didn't go to Ameyoko (bleh...), we didn't go to the zoo (it costs money), or any of the many museums there (money again). We just walked around the Ueno Park where we didn't have to pay and took pictures. Well, Dr Trouble did, while I complained that we should go home because the cats must be lonely, hot (even though we left the AC on for them) and hungry.

Between my complaints, we did manage to visit the Ueno Toshogu (being renovated, nothing special, maybe you'll see pics another time) and the Ueno Rinnoji (nothing special). We also saw a lot of homeless people in and around the park. Literally everywhere. I have no idea how they were surviving in this ridiculously hot weather.

Living in the countryside, we do see a lot of poverty (ha! you should see our neighborhood!), Japan is not as egalitarian as the well-off natives would like you to believe. But though I am sure there are homeless people in Tochigi (there must be), I have been pretty much insulated from the sights of in-your-face out-on-the-street homelessness. Or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough. Dunno...

Anyway, let's look at something that you've already seen countless times on other blogs. Lotus blossoms.

Here they are in Ueno:

And what's the plural of "lotus"? Lotuses? Or loti? I mean, there's fungus and fungi, succubus and succubi, torus and tori. Why not lotus and loti?

But my favorite shot must be this one:

The plant looks so surprised to see us.

This statue was also quite surprised to have its picture taken:

Say what you want, it's creepy. Me no like. Or is that how it looks during the full moon, huh?

Not sure, if it was exactly full, but judging from my bitchiness that day, it must have been. Or was it because of the needles to my face? Not sure. Either way, here's the moon.

 

When Dr Trouble took this photo I was already on the train home. The cats won't feed themselves, you know...