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NIKKO

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 690 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NIKKO , one of the See also:

chief religious centres of See also:Japan. The name belongs properly to the See also:district, but is as commonly applied to the See also:principal See also:village, Hachi-ishi, which is or m. N. of See also:Tokyo by See also:rail. The district is high-lying, mountainous and beautiful, and is in favour for summer See also:residence. The chief See also:mountain range is known as Nikko-Zan (Mountains of the See also:Sun's Brightness). A Shinto See also:temple seems to have existed at Nikko from See also:time immemorial, and in 767 its first Buddhist temple was founded by Shodo Sho-nin (the subject of many See also:strange legendary adventures); but the See also:main celebrity of the See also:place is due to the sepulchres and sanctuaries of Iyeyasu and Iyemitsu, the first and third shoguns of the See also:Tokugawa See also:dynasty. Iyeyasu was buried with amazing pomp in 1617, and Iyemitsu, his See also:grandson, was slain in 1650 while visiting his See also:tomb. From 1644 to 1868 the " abbots " of Nikko were always princes of the imperial See also:blood; thirteen of them are buried within the sacred grounds. Though the magnificent abbots' residence was destroyed by See also:fire in 1871, and the temples have lost most of their See also:ritual and much of their material splendour, enough remains to astonish by excellence and bewilder by variety of decorative detail. Of the numerous structures which cluster See also:round the See also:shrine of Iyeyasu, it is sufficient to mention the cylindrical See also:copper See also:column (1643), a See also:guardian against evil influences, 42 ft. high, adorned at the See also:top with a See also:series of See also:lotus See also:flowers, from the petals of which hang small bells; a five-storied See also:pagoda (1659), 104 ft. high, with the signs of the See also:zodiac carved round the See also:base; the See also:gate of the Two See also:Kings, with its figures of unicorns, lions, tigers, elephants, mythical animals and See also:tree-peonies; the See also:vermilion-coloured See also:timber enclosure to which this gate gives entrance, with three See also:great storehouses, a sumptuous See also:stable for the sacred horses, and a finely fashioned See also:granite cistern (1618) for See also:holy See also:water; and the Yo-mei-mon gate, which with the contiguous See also:cloister is covered with the most elaborate See also:carving, and gives See also:access by way of another gate (Kara-Mon) to the See also:court in the midst of which stands the last and most sacred enclosure. This, known as the Tamagaki, is a quadrangle of gilt trellis-See also:work 50 yds. square; within it stands the " See also:chapel " or See also:oratory (or rather a series of See also:chambers), in the decoration of which See also:gilding and See also:black See also:lacquer have been lavishly employed. The tomb of Iyeyasu lies apart about two See also:hundred steps higher up the hills, in the See also:shadow of tall cryptomerias—a single See also:light-coloured See also:bronze See also:urn or See also:casket See also:standing on a circular base of three steps with a See also:stone table in front on which See also:rest a censer, a lotus-cluster and a See also:stork with a See also:candlestick in its mouth, the whole enclosed by a high stone See also:wall.

Somewhat similar are the tomb of Iyemitsu and its surroundings; and though the See also:

art displayed is of an inferior See also:character, the profusion of buildings and embellishments is even more remarkable. Hotoke Iwa, the See also:hill on which the tomb stands, is completely covered to the See also:summit with trees of various tints. There are numerous temples and shrines of See also:minor See also:interest in the locality.

End of Article: NIKKO

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