Nikko Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerNikko Toshogu

Nikko Toshogu is the shrine built for Tokugawa Ieyasu, first raised in 1617, the year after his death, and then rebuilt in 1636 under the third shogun, Iemitsu, when 55 structures, including the Yomeimon gate, went up to create the richly decorated shrine visitors see today. In 1999 it was inscribed as World Heritage together with Rinnoji and Futarasan Shrine.

Source:Nikko Toshogu — official reference

Correct answerRinnoji Temple

Rinnoji is a Tendai Buddhist temple tracing back to Shihonryuji, founded in 766 by the monk Shodo Shonin, who opened Nikko to worship, and for more than twelve centuries since it has remained one of the central temples anchoring Nikko's mountain faith, grouped with Toshogu and Futarasan Shrine as Nikko's "two shrines, one temple."

Source:Rinnoji Temple — about the temple

Correct answerLake Chuzenji

Lake Chuzenji formed roughly 20,000 years ago when an eruption of Mount Nantai dammed a river, and its surface now sits at an elevation of about 1,269 meters, with a shoreline that stretches for roughly 25 kilometers around the lake. Tradition credits the monk Shodo Shonin with discovering it in 782.

Source:Lake Chuzenji — official reference

Correct answerKegon Falls

Kegon Falls carries the outflow of Lake Chuzenji over a drop of about 97 meters, and it is often ranked, together with Nachi Falls in Wakayama, among Japan's three great waterfalls, making it one of Nikko's signature sights. An elevator carries visitors down to an observation deck near its base for a close-up view.

Source:Kegon Falls — official reference

Correct answerYuba

Yuba is the skin skimmed from heated soy milk, and Nikko writes it with the character for wave rather than Kyoto's character for leaf, and it became a vital protein source in the vegetarian cooking of monks who could not eat meat or fish. That single kanji difference from Kyoto's version is a small but telling regional marker.

Source:Yuba — official reference

Correct answerYomeimon Gate

Of the twelve pillars holding up the Yomeimon gate, one alone has its carved pattern deliberately set upside down. The idea is that a finished thing has already begun to decline, so builders left this one "reversed pillar" as a charm against misfortune.

Source:Overview of the shrine buildings

Correct answerShinkyusha Sacred Stable

The sacred stable carrying the Three Wise Monkeys carving actually holds eight monkey panels in total along its beam. The tradition that monkeys protect horses explains their presence there, and together the eight panels are read as a satire tracing a human life from birth to old age.

Source:Overview of the shrine buildings

Correct answerSleeping Cat

On the reverse side of the Sleeping Cat carving is a small sparrow. One interpretation reads the pairing as a statement of peace: the cat, which would normally be the sparrow's predator, can safely doze because the world around it is at rest.

Source:Overview of the shrine buildings

Correct answerSanbutsudo Hall

Rinnoji's main hall, the Sanbutsudo, was first built in the Heian period in the Tendai esoteric style, but the structure standing today dates from 1645, when the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, had it rebuilt. It ranks among the largest wooden buildings in eastern Japan.

Source:Rinnoji Temple — visiting the grounds

Correct answerNikko Futarasan Shrine

The current main hall of Nikko Futarasan Shrine was built in 1619 and is designated an Important Cultural Property. The shrine comprises three parts — this main shrine, Chuzenji, and the Okumiya — and together they treat the Nikko mountain range itself as sacred ground.

Source:Nikko Futarasan Shrine

Correct answerMount Nantai

Women were long forbidden from climbing Mount Nantai, a ban lifted in 1872, after which the mountain became open to any climber. Its summit holds the Okumiya of Nikko Futarasan Shrine and still draws climbers as a site of mountain asceticism.

Source:Mount Nantai — official reference

Correct answerIrohazaka

Partway along Irohazaka, its climbing and descending roads split and rejoin at Akechidaira, and because the hairpin curves come one after another, the road itself is notorious for traffic jams during the autumn color season.

Source:Irohazaka — official reference

Correct answerOkunikko

Okunikko refers to the highland stretch sitting roughly 1,200 to 1,700 meters above sea level, several degrees cooler than central Nikko and long favored as a summer retreat; the hot spring towns of Nikko Yumoto Onsen and Chuzenji Onsen both lie within it.

Source:Okunikko — official reference

Correct answerSenjogahara Marshland

At Senjogahara, cotton grass and other highland plants bloom in summer, while in autumn its grasses turn a golden "kusa-momiji" color across the marshland. The name, meaning "battlefield," is said to come from a legend of a battle between the gods of Mount Nantai and Mount Akagi.

Source:Senjogahara Marshland — official reference

Correct answerLake Yunoko

A walking trail circles the shore of Lake Yunoko, letting visitors set out from Yumoto Onsen, loop around the lake, and return to their starting point. The lake's outflow forms Yudaki Falls, which carries its water on toward Senjogahara.

Source:Lake Yunoko — official reference