Tokyo, Japan: Nikko, Sumo tournament, Mori Tower

Saturday we woke up early to go to Nikko as we planned. We also had to check out from our hostel and store our bags for the day. But as we got attached to the staff there, we took some time to say goodbye to everyone, and we missed the 8:00 train. But it wasn't that bad, since we caught the next one and finally got to Nikko.

The ride takes 2.5 hours, but it was not boring at all: The view from the train was great. We passed many small towns and villages and it was interesting to see what they all looked like. The houses look very nice and everything looks so clean. And when we got close to Nikko, we started to see snow on the houses, the fields, and everywhere around. It was so cool. We haven't seen snow for years!

We didn't have much time to be in Nikko because Talia's friend, Shanainai, was coming in the evening from the States to spend a week with us and visit Japan, so we could stay only till 15:00. We decided to focus on Nikko's main attractions, the temples. There are also a lake and waterfall that are supposed to be great, but maybe we will do them next time.

The temples are displayed all around downtown and it's like a walking trail to find them all. We bought a 5-temple-in-one pass which cost about 1000 Yen, and after a very tasteful pizza from a cafe in front of the train station, we started our tour.

We started with Rinno-ji which was under renovation when we were there. There were a lot of tourists there, Japanese and Russian, so it was very crowded and we couldn't understand the guides' explanations, but it was a nice start.

We then saw Tosho-gu with its famous 3 monkeys: "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

Seeing the temples in the snow was quite amazing. It had a sense of peace and beauty that we enjoyed as much as the temples themselves.

 

We don't want to start an extensive description of all temples we saw there, but it definitely was a great idea to come to Nikko and enjoy a walk outside the big city.

Shinkyo sacred bridge in Nikko

We went back to Tokyo in the evening to meet Shainai in our new hostel.

We decided to "celebrate" Shanainai's arrival and enjoyed a good dinner out.

The next day, the main attraction was the sumo tournament finals that started in the afternoon. We decided to go back to Senjo-ji for a short stroll and show this crowded and cheerful place to our friend. The place was even more crowded than when we were there a few days before. Of course - it was Sunday. Talia played the tour guide as though she had known the place for ages.

One of many funny signs you can see on the streets of Tokyo

We then went to the sumo tournament, which was 3 subway stations from there. This was a great experience that everyone should do at least once. The combat itself is not very long and the ceremony before the fight is longer than the fight itself, but there are dozens of them during the day and each is exciting and surprising. And as the day advances, the more important the fights become and the more cheerful the crowd is.

Sumo entering ceremony

Getting ready to fight

Fight!

At the end, the winner got lots of trophies. A lot! It didn't stop, so we decided that we should leave and go on to Roppongi Hills and view Tokyo from above.

The winner

We went to the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower and saw Tokyo at night. The ticket to get there was a bit expensive (1500 Yen - about $17) but it included an exposition by a Japanese artist at the museum there. Talia was a bit scared of the display there. The theme was ghosts, life and death and in between.

View from Mori tower

We finally got to our hostel exhausted. We planned on going to Tsukiji market at 5 AM in the morning, but we were too tired so we postponed it to the next day, before going to Kyoto.

You can go over to the videos page to watch a video from the Sumo tournament.

Pics from Nikko and Tokyo:

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