Temples, Temples and More
Temples in Nikko...
January 24, 2006
Things are getting better. I slept in until 6:30am today. Because it’s only Tuesday and I still have a lot of time left in Tokyo, I
decided to do a day-trip to Nikko. This is a city that is known for its temples. First let me say that everybody is so right when
they say that you get over the temple thing relatively soon over here. Don’t get me wrong—they’re all beautiful. Extremely
beautiful. But am I going to pay one more yen to see the inside of another one? No. I have clapped, bowed and prayed to many
o’ shrines out here. At this point, I’m leaving it in their hands. I feel like they’d only think that I was doubting them and their
powers if I continued to do this at every shrine I had the opportunity to go into. That’s how much I respect them (I hope they
are listening right now).
It was not until I came to Nikko that I saw how truly gorgeous these temples are. The detailing of them is simply amazing.
They’re just as detailed as the most famous gothic churches in Europe. They just depict different things and they are much
more colorful over here. The Catholic churches also lack the statues with scary faces that greet you as you enter—these,
however, do not disappoint.
And what a small world it continues to be… I met a couple girls from Israel at the subway station because we were all heading
to the Tsukiji Fish Market. I ended up seeing one of the girls at a temple in Nikko (and Nikko is about 2 hours away from
Tokyo)!
All in all, I spent about 5 hours wandering around this city and enjoyed every minute of it. I even got back to Tokyo by 5pm
thanks to the shinkansen (a.k.a. bullet train).
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped in Akihabara. This is the ‘technology’ center of Tokyo. It’s impossible to imagine how
many electronics one can find in this area. I felt like Scarlett Johanssen’s character in Lost in Translation where she’s just
walking around places in Tokyo and just looking at things like ‘Whoaaa…’
The bed was calling my name. It was supposed to be a nap that was about an hour. It turned out to be a nap of 12 hours…
The Shinkyo Bridge
| The incredibly detailed temples of Nikko |
