All photo sources : Me (Louise)
From Asakusa to Nikko, from the city to the mountains filled of snow. I visited Nikko with my family during my university holidays. It was the first time I saw so much snow, as I never go skiing in the winter. After a 2-hour train trip by Tobu Line, we reached Nikko. A wonderful landscape and fresh air welcomed us friendly.
After lunch, we crossed Shinkyo Bridge. Everyone does so to reach the National Park in which the sanctuary is located, but from this moment I felt something bigger than me. The weight of history and beliefs, I guess. Anyway, you can't escape from history there, on the land of memories of Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun. You are reminded this immediatly after crossing the bridge, with meeting eyes with the statue of Tenkai Daisojo, high priest of Tendai buddhist school during Edo period.
浅草区から日光市へ。大都市から雪に包まれた山々。大学の休みの途中で、家族と日光を訪ね、初めてこんなに大量の雪を見ました。スキ－場には行ってませんからね（笑）東武電車で2時間を過ごした後、日光にやっと着いて、新鮮な風と素晴らしき景色が私たちを親しく歓迎されてくれました。
昼食にの後、神橋を渡りました。東照宮や国立公園に行く皆さんもそうしなければなりませんが、橋に一歩踏み出したそのとき、私より大きな存在がいると感じました。それは人信念なのか、歴史なのか、どちらでもなのでしょう。とにかく、そこでは歴史から逃げられないのです！徳川家康将軍の思い出の領地ですからね。。神橋を通ったらすぐに江戸時代の時の天台宗の天海大僧正の彫像と目を合わせた瞬間、それをさらに感じました。
It's only the beginning. You can only access the sanctuary after walking up the thousand-men stone staircase (Sennin Ishidan) and contemplating the gorgeous five-stored pagoda. This red color is always vivid in my memories. We had a splendid weather for this visit, the sun was shining between the trees, reinforcing the "paradise effect". Being surrounded by nature like this is very precious, because it isn't only one part of the monument, for me it's one monument in its own. Tall green trees are as impressive as pagodas and temples, provided we care about them. This perfect human and nature balance already surprised me in other places in Japan, like in Koya-san monastry or in Ise Grand Sanctuary.
これは始まりだけです。東照宮に入るために、印象的な千人石段を歩いて、予想以外に綺麗な五重塔を熱心に見つめることしかできません。晴れた天気に歓迎され、太陽が木の葉の間に輝き、天国にいる感じが強化しました。このように自然に囲まれることはとても大切なことだと思います。なぜなら、自然はモニュメントの部分だけではなく、自然そのものがモニュメントだと思うからです。いい世話をしていけば、高くて緑色の木は仏塔やお寺と同じように目に立ちますよね。この完璧な人間と自然のバランスは日本の所々、例えば高野山の奥の院や伊勢神宮に出会ったことがあって、いつもびっくりさせられます。
Here, you can see the sanctuary's courtyard, near the main building. Lanterns offered by the Netherlands, with reversed Tokugawa family engravure, are covered by snow and sunlight. While crossing the yard, I was looking at my life going by, like the fresque with the 3 monkeys. It's a very touching piece of art, which made me think about how much I achieved before coming there but also on how much wonders I have yet to encounter in the future. The well-crafted, white frescoes of the main building catched also my eyes. How is this possible to reach this kind of perfect handcraft ? How much time does it take ? That's why I commit myself in protecting not only tangible heritage, but also traditional handcrafting, which reflects the soul of humanity.
After coming another flight of stairs to reach the peak of the hill, it was time for me to enjoy the silence and to contemplate history. The tumb of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of Edo era, stand in front of me. The peaceful heron which protects the place alongside the dragons looks like it will fly up to the sky at any moment, after resting a little moment there.
Leaving this peculiar place behind, I waved goodbye to the monuments, to the statues. At the bottom of the hill, just before the Shinkyo Bridge, an old panel hidden sideways of the woodpath teached me how to judge of my actions. If everyone followed those principles, would the world be a better place ? It would certainly be happier, I guess..
Goodbye Nikko, thank you for hosting me in your awesome sanctuary. See you again, I hope.
そこから出ていたら、モニュメントと彫刻に手を振りました。坂の下、神橋前の森を抜ける小道の横に古いパネルに私の行動を判断することについて考えさせられました。人間のみなさんがこの原則を守れば、もっと良い世界になるのでしょうか。もっと幸せになるつもりでしょう。。
日光、さようなら。私をこの素晴らしい神宮に歓迎してくれて感謝しています。
また来られますよう、楽しみにしております。
