Nikko

Toshogu enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warrior who founded the Tokugawa shogunate and began the Edo period in 1603. A year after his death in 1616, his remains were moved to Nikko and he was enshrined here as a deity in 1617. His grandson, the third shogun Iemitsu, rebuilt the main shrine buildings in their present lavish form in 1636; Iemitsu's own mausoleum, Taiyuinbyo, stands nearby.

In 1999 UNESCO inscribed the Shrines and Temples of Nikko on the World Heritage List. The property comprises 103 religious buildings at two Shinto shrines, Toshogu and Futarasan-jinja, and the Buddhist temple Rinnoji. The first structures date from the 8th century, though many were built in the 17th century, and UNESCO highlights both their architectural and artistic achievement and the sacred relationship between people, mountains and forest that they express. The site remains in active religious use.

Nikko has been a sacred mountain area for well over a thousand years and remains a living religious site, where priests carry out regular rites and local people take part in the great festivals. Many visitors come from Tokyo for the day, but staying overnight lets you see the shrines in the quiet of early morning, when the cedars are often wrapped in mist.