Some more photos from our trip to Nikko. There were so many awesome monuments, landmarks, and buildings that it'd be impossible to fit it all into one post. I was so glad that I had my mobile battery with me because I was taking so many photos that I was just burning through my battery lol. I really liked how the incense burner looked and I tried looking up how old it was but I wasn't able to find anything about it, only the one in front of Tokugawa Ieyasu's burial site. I would have liked to use the chozuya as well, but unfortunately it was closed off due to covid. I also liked seeing the sake barrels as well as they always brighten up shrines. The "Ippon Toro" lantern was interesting as well. I'd never heard of Empress Tofukumon'in before either, so it gave me some interesting things to read about Japan's Edo Period. Apparently she helped rebuild prominent temple in Kyoto and collected art and pottery from famous artisans of the time and even those of the past. Some buildings I'd have to look at a map to know their names but there was definitely no shortage of decorations. Unfortunately we weren't able to take photos inside some of the main buildings, but a few of them had ceiling paintings done by famous painters. Many of them were birds, and I'm not an expert, but I think they were mostly cranes and they were all really beautiful.

I found some photos of when I visited Todaiji Temple. I took a photo of the bronze lantern out front of the temple because I thought it looked really cool, but it's pretty crazy to think that the lantern is around 1,300 years old at this point. I also took some photos of a few of the statues inside the temple, the first being Akasagarbha (虚空蔵菩薩), one of the Eight Great Bodhisattva, and the second (which took me forever to find the name of...) being Virupaksa (広目天), one of the Four Heavenly Kings. I'm not sure what Virupaksa is made of but I think this statue is made of wood, although I could be wrong. It looks like a different material from the other statues inside the temple, although it's been quite a while since I visited and I can't recall exactly. All the statues are really awesome though. I'll have to upload some more photos later!

長崎ランタンフェスティバル2020。

長崎ランタンフェスティバル2020。