Three Wise Monkeys

Here are some pictures from our trip north this week to Nikko. It's an area of shrines and temples once patronized by Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the first shoguns back in the early 1600s. It's famous for many reasons, including an inconspicuous wood carving at the main shrine of three monkeys, which is the source of the maxim: "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." As usual, it was raining while we were there but the bad weather didn't detract from the setting. Several buildings date back 1200 years and the entire complex is surrounded by towering trees. Ieyasu's son and grandson ordered construction of the main building, Toshogu, which serves as Ieyasu's mausoleum, and the buildings are incredibly ornate. Here's a short video of Lori at the shrine. It was difficult to capture Nikko on film, so here's a link to some other pictures. The area is also great for hiking, so on our second day we hiked a few miles to a waterfall and a remote shrine. We definitely recommend Nikko!

Here's a little bonus video of two combatants thwacking away at each other in a building claiming to be the "place of the rebirth of kendo." It was located on the grounds and I was able to watch for a few minutes. Enjoy!