I’m at home today with a random virus, so this seems like a good time to upload pictures of Nikko, one of the main tourist attractions in the Tokyo region. “Nikko” literally means “Sunshine” - no, it’s nothing like that Sunshine, you Melburnians. Being slackers, we got there on the train around midday, which still gave us plenty of time to wander around looking at the colourful, indeed gaudy, shrines. Its location in the mountains made the weather a bit cooler than Tokyo - which, apart from the week of rain, was hot - and the forest around the shrines cooled things down further, so that sightseeing was pleasant. I’m afraid I either never knew, or have forgotten, what most of the photos below are actually of. Shrines and shrine-related stuff, you know?

The god of thunder (and rock ‘n’ roll), winner of the Mightiest Nipples in Heaven contest:

Not sure who these chaps are, but: “I will survive, I will survive…”

And dolphin- and elephant-shaped kneepads are so kawaaaiii!

The Three Wise Monkeys, carved over the door of the stable housing the sacred white horse, a gift from New Zealand, which wasn’t at home when we were there. A traditional belief holds that monkeys protect horses from disease:

Dry stone wall, with moss. All the outdoor walls were of dry stone construction, as far as I could see:

One of the most impressive sights was the trio of Buddhas in the aptly named Three Buddhas Hall. Unfortunately, photos weren’t allowed - probably to encourage postcard sales. However, thanks to the ever-trust Internet, you can see that the large, multi-armed, gilt bronze(?) Buddhas are kept behind a sturdy grille, presumably to stop them sneaking out at night and eating people. They had that sort of feeling about them, particularly the one on the left, which had the look of a wrathful Tibetan deity and upset a small boy who was there.

Leaving the Big Bad Buddha, we wandered down the hill and up the river a kilometre or so, looking for a certain path lined with Jizo statues. Jizo is a bodhisattva viewed as a special protector of children, women and travellers, who acts fearlessly to help those in need or distress. The river was very clear and blue. It looked very cold but so clean and inviting that I had to go and dip my feet in it (it was cold - but nice):

Crossing the river, we saw many dragonflies lying torpidly on the handrails of the bridge:

A little further on, we came to the path of Jizos - with hats and bibs, which, I have read, are offered as thanks by parents whose child has recovered from an illness, or, alternatively, by those who have lost a child and hope the god will protect it in the afterlife. Jizo is known as a helper of souls in hell and, in modern Japan, in his aspect as Mizuko Jizo, the guardian of stillborn, miscarried, aborted and unborn infants. About halfway down this page there’s an interesting explanation of Mizuko Jizo and the Japanese concept of early childhood, in which young children are regarded as half-otherworldly and “mysterious beings in a liminal world between the realm of humans and gods”. It was a lovely, secluded path on the mountainside above the river, and my personal highlight from our day at Nikko.

The Jizo path - like many a circle of English standing stones, they are said to be uncountable:

On a path above was this woodland cemetery:

And, nearby, an attractive little hydroelectric station:

We walked back along a stream which, because of the gradient of the road, gave the illusion of flowing uphill; another stream went across it on a tiny aqueduct. We caught a bus back to town and ate Indian at a restaurant near the station before we left. There was a big TV in the restaurant showing sumo wrestling. I wondered if there are any female sumo wrestlers. There are - and were, as early as the 1700s, but it was considered immoral, and tied to the sex industry (let your imagination run wild), unlike male sumo, which was honourable, of course, and female wrestling was banned in Japan in 1926. I can’t help thinking that some of Bangkok’s rotund mama-sans would make formidable sumo wrestlers…