One hundred and fifty kilometres north-west of Tokyo, Nikko became an important destination for pilgrims during the Edo period (1603-1867). The town has a long history, the antiquities dating from 766 when the Rinno-ji Temple was completed. Nikko was established as a World Heritage Site in 1999 when 103 structures were nominated in the application, including 9 designated as Japanese National Treasures and 94 as important cultural properties.

The other main attraction is the Toshogu Shrine which was finished in 1617. It was the burial place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate which began in 1603 and ruled over Japan for 250 years. He was enshrined as the 'Great Deity of the East Shining Light'.
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If you go online to read about Tokugawa’s achievements, accounts are so rich in bewildering detail that you will likely be lost within a few paragraphs. All those wars, all that plotting, this clan and that, this execution and that one! In order to prevail in those times, you surely must have been a master of intrigue and subterfuge. No wonder Nikko became a destination for pilgrims, with crowds continuing to visit to this day. The Shinkyo Bridge, constructed in 1636, served as a gateway to Nikko's shrines and it still stands near the entrance. 

Above: Shinkyo Bridge

Above and Right: Yuna Lake.
​​Below: the original Three Wise Monkeys, 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil', are to be found at the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. Their names are: ​​
​Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru,