Nikko has been a well-known center of Shinto and Buddhist mountain worship since Toshogu was built in 1617 and Nikko National Park continues to offer scenic, mountainous landscapes, lakes, waterfalls. However, there are still many unfamiliar places of odd sight in Nikko. One of them is Kanmangafuchi abyss. This trip is to visit not only popular sight-seeing spots but also spot of odd sight.
At the exit of Tobu Nikko station
Toshogu Shrine is the final resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan about 260 years. You can enjoy the lavishly decorated shrine complex consists of more than a dozen buildings set in a beautiful forest, countless wood carvings and large amounts of gold leaf decorated buildings.
Taiyuin is the mausoleum of the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, the grandson of Ieyasu. The Taiyuin features a mix of Buddhist and Shinto structures. It was common for places of worship to contain elements of both religions.
Kanmangafuchi Abyss was formed by an eruption of nearby Mount Nantai. This gorge near central Nikko is only a few hundred meters
long and can be enjoyed from a pleasant reverside walking trail. Kanmangafuchi is also known for its row of about 70 stones statues of Jizo.
Tamosawa is a park in Nikko city. Originally this building and garden were founded for the villa for the emperor Taishio and now it is opened to the public. This is only one left intact among villas constructed after Meiji area.
After getting off the bus at Shinkyo, we will walk through main Nikko shopping street and go back to Tobu Nikko station.
At the exit of Tobu Nikko station
If you follow the Daiya river, you will reach a small gorge called Kanmangafucchi Abyss. Kanmangafuchi Abyss was created by an eruption of nearby Mt. Nantai. On one side of the river, is a botanical garden with a great view to enjoy any season. Besides the beautiful landscape, you can also find on the south shore 70 Jizo statues, called "Bakejizo" (ghosts Jizo) because it is said that their number changes every time you count them. You can expose yourself to mysterious atmosphere in the forest.
Nikko Toshogu Shrine is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1943-1616), the founder of Tokugawa shogunate . The shrine, including the Yomeimon Gate, is full of beautiful wooden sculptures. It is probably Japan's most ornate structure, giving off a grand and imposing air with its intricate decorations and architectural features. The numerous animals in those sculptures are thought o be symbols of peace. Among these, you will find the famous "Three Wise Monkeys" representing the maximum " See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" taught by the Tendai Sect, a Japanese school of Buddhism.
Rinnoji Shrine-Taiyuin Temple listed among UNESCO's World Heritage sites, is dedicated to third Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. It was build according to his last will to be near his grandfather, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the dynasty's founder, in order to serve him after death. Usually, the main building of a temples faces the South; however the Taiyuin Temple heads towards the North-east, even though it is considered an unlucky direction. It was decided in such way as to show his respect to his grandfather by facing the Toshogu shirne.
Guide fee
Guide's transportation, lunch, entry tickets to Toshogu, Taiyuin and Tamozawa villa
If guests need to meet the guide at Asakusa station, additional ¥4,000 is required to pay.
In 2022 I can accept your guide request 1 week prior to travel date.
1) I can pick up guests at Asakusa station subject to extra charge Yen4,000.
2) Customized tours are available according to guest's need.
3) Tamozawa Imperial villa memorial park close on Tuesday (If Tuesday is a national holiday, the following day close)
Linda T.
We had an enjoyable, informative fun day with Noa. His English is excellent. He is very professional and our day was well planned. With thanks Linda and Christine.
Dear Linda san and Christine san I have never experienced such an enjoyable and funny tour with you. I will keep this tour in my mind as a good memory. Thank you for choosing my tour. Nao
Megan S.
We toured with Nao for two days. He was very accommodating to our needs and was able to make changes to our tour on the spot, even on the one rainy day we had. He planned meaningful experiences and was excellent at explaining history and traditions. Highly recommend a tour with Nao-san!
Dear Megan san Thank you very much for choosing my tour and touring with me. I enjoyed very much travelling with you and felt warm and close family tie with your parents and other family members. I enjoyed photos of your father when he was a child with his mother and family history. Please continue to have a pleasant journey to Kyushu and other destinations. Cheers! Mata aimashoo ! ! Nao
Shaila J.
Nao San was our guide for a one-day trip from Tokyo to Mt Fuji. I knew that we needed to take multiple trains and bus to get this tour done. I was so glad that we booked Nao San. He was very organized and detailed oriented. He customized, planned and communicated every little detail of our tours as we requested. He even did a pre-visit to our hotel so that he could orientate and be prepared for our tour. Nao San is continuously checking times, and making sure that the trip is run efficiently. He walks around with printed iternary, bus and train timetables etc. He was very kind, friendly and funny. He integrated with ease with my family. I will highly recommend Nao San as a tour guide, especially if you need a highly organised and prepared guide.
Dear Shaila san Thank you very much for your comment on my tour to Mt Fuji. Your comment encourages me to conduct future tours better than before and improve it further in the future. Thank you for your comment. One thing I regret during my tour is Mt Fuji was covered with cloud and we could not see beautiful symmetrical cone shape. Therefore, I will send you photos of Mt Fuji when I visit there again on November 23. I hope it will be fine without cloud. Thanks Nao
Shawna S.
I cannot stress enough how perfect a guide Nao was, not only was he an excellent communicator before the tour (Some initially planned stuff had to be changed, and Nao let us know well in advance, and had alternatives already in mind which were communicated and agreed to) Also during the tour, where I admittedly did not know what to expect, as I had never really done this before. Nao did not just walk us around Tokyo, but along the way explained the history, and significance of each site we were seeing, down to simple things like teaching us how to properly offer a prayer at a temple (If we wanted to) while explaining the reasoning behind some of the practices. But even outside of the tour itself, Nao struck us both as just a good guy, who was affable, and just someone it was very easy to spend a day with and chat informally with while on trains between sites we were seeing about our lives and families. It was a genuine pleasure!! I cannot envision a more perfect day than the one we had with Nao, and cannot recommend him highly enough!
Dear Shawna san Thank you so much for your comment on my tour. I enjoyed the tour with you very much. I was wondering if you had sore feet after long walking around in Tokyo, especially we were on the way to the Imperial palace because I took a wrong way to there and have you walked more than necessary. But, I could feel releve that you could enjoy my tour. If you have a chance, please visit Japan again in the future. Thanks Nao