Nikko

  Daryl and I wanted to get outside of Tokyo at least once, so we decided that we head up two hours north to Nikko where there is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Toshogu shrine.  Actually there are a lot of shrines and gates from the 17th century to honor the founding shogun.  His tomb is in there too.  There's just a lot of beautiful architecture and artwork.  There were also a lot of stairs, but it was well worth the trip.  It was nice to get out of Tokyo one day and see more of Japan. I also got to ride the bullet train on the way back to Tokyo.

Some of the stairs at Toshogu.

Daryl and I on the train.

We saw grass and trees on the ride out!

This is the front entrance to Toshogu.

I could have taken so many more pictures than I did.

Gate at the top of the stairs.

The monkeys here are very famous.  It is hear no evil, say no evil, and see no evil.

Besides the monkeys, the sleeping cat is also very famous.  She is sleeping above a gate and wards off evil.