Page 300 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

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TOSHO-GU SHRINE

東照宮
⌂ 2301 Sannai # 8am–5pm daily (to 4pm Nov–Mar) Honden (inner Haiden
EXPERIENCE Northern Honshu mausoleum-shrine for his grandfather Ieyasu.
∑ toshogu.jp/english
sanctuary)
(sanctuary)
Tokugawa Iemitsu set out to dazzle with this
For two years some 15,000 artisans from all
over Japan worked, building, carving,
gilting, painting, and lacquering,
to create this flowery, gorgeous
Momoyama-style complex.
Although designated a Shinto
shrine in the Meiji period, Tosho-gu
retains many of its original Buddhist
elements, including the sutra
library, which chronicles the
temple’s history, the Niomon Gate,
and an unusual pagoda, with a The Yomeimon
suspended pilar. The famed sugi- Gate is deco-
namiki (Japanese cedar avenue) rated with beasts
leading to the shrine was planted and flowers.
by a 17th-century lord, in lieu of a
more opulent offering. The shrine
is undergoing major renovation
work, which is scheduled to be
completed in 2024, though most
of it is still open to visitors. Don’t
miss the Tokugawa armor Honji-do’s ceiling
in the Treasure Hall or is painted with the
the painted doors in “crying dragon,”
the Museum of Art. which echoes
when you clap.
Drum tower
The embellished structures
making up the Tosho-gu
Shrine complex

TOKUGAWA IEYASU
Ieyasu (1543–1616) was a wily The Rinzo contains
a sutra library of
strategist and master politician who Buddhist scriptures
founded the dynasty that would rule set within a revolv-
Japan for over 250 years. Born the ing structure.
son of a minor lord, he spent his life
accumulating power, before becoming The sacred fountain
shogun in 1603, when he was 60. He is covered with an
built his capital in the swampy village of ornate Chinese-
Edo (now Tokyo), and his rule saw the start style roof. The
of the flower ing of Edo culture. After his granite basin
death, he was enshrined and given his (1618) is used for
post humous name: Tosho-Daigongen, “the ritual purification.
great incarnation illuminating the East”.

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