Okumiya Grave And Seiryu Shrine In Nikko

So many places to see in Nikko, how to cram them into one blog entry? Mash-up!

Behind and up the hill from Tōshō-gū is Okumiya, the grave location for Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was a great Shogun from the 17th century.

As like everything in Nikko, the path leading to Okumiya is evocative and perfect.

Up the staircase and through the gate.

The grave. Or is it? Turns out, a ruse. Tokugawa Ieyasu is actually buried in another shrine, in Kunōzan, Kunōzan Tōshō-gū. Some sort of tale about the remains entombed in Kunōzan and then moved to Nikko. Nope, never moved. No matter, a nice grave design, despite being vacant.

The setting at Okumiya, pure (mist)ery. Back in central Nikko, heading in to see Seiryu shrine.

Through a gate and up some stairs, the shrine awaits.

It seems Seiryu has a mini-me.

Perfect proportions, perfect setting. The shrine is for a blue dragon, protector of Buddhism.

Tōshō-gū

Tōshō-gū is the major shrine in Nikko, a whole complex of elaborate buildings in a perfect natural setting. It was built in 1617 and is dedicated to Tokugawa Leyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. We're talking Edo period.

The gate beckons.

Just past the entrance are the Sanjinko, sacred storehouses. Next up, the hall, Shinkyusha.

Up to the main attraction of the complex, to Yomei-mon, the sunset gate. No need to look for any sun on this day.

The top of the gate, a cake-like, over-the-top carved and gold leaf extravaganza. A side detail.

Some solitary fall color, delicate for a delicacy.

Patina and gold, a nice combination. If you're lucky, or have connections, or both, or more, you can get married there.

A nice look at the angles of the architecture within the mist and trees.

Nikko In The Mist

A sunny day would have been nice, fall color gleaming. Mist was special, lending some old world gravitas to the temple town. Time to get the knife out and start cutting our way through.

Pure pea soup.

Gates to pass under.

A glance at Tōshō-gū behind the wall.

Fall color, not shy. The five-story Gojunoto pagoda.

A solitary walk among the beautiful fall flora and the mist. Bliss.