Day number… something. We lost track of time, but now we are well settled, maybe too much. We know it is Sunday for two reasons: there are fewer trains than usual, and Nikko is full of tourists.
I have a very different recollection of my first time snowy Nikko temples, almost no one to wander around the trees and especially no ticket to pay. 1300 yen to enter?? So far, the average was between 300 and 500… Apart from that, there is still a bit of snow, winter residue that still gets a little feel.
There are people, too many: we almost an hour in a row to visit the temple as high (which is not really worth).
Non vedo, non sento, non parlo
Nikko is home of the famous three monkeys: I do not see, I do not hear, I do not speak. They are part of a series of low-reliefs in wood that tell summarily Life. From birth, the “mother” monkey watching the horizon with hope for the newborn child, the various stages of life (love, disappointments, ambitions) to pregnancy and a new life that will repeat the cycle. The famous three monkeys refer to the fact that children do not have to see, hear and speak evil: a sort of handbook for the education of children.
The sun peeps out occasionally, but otherwise it is pretty cold, especially compared to Tokyo where we left temperatures definitely spring.
On the way back we see the station a small hanko craftsman (Japanese seals used in place of the signature) and decide (Marie and I) to let us do the seals with our names. Unfortunately the craftsman does not know English and our Japanese is not dazzling. It takes about an hour to find the understanding and in the end we have to agree to let us send the seals in Kyoto during the last week there. It was tough, but the availability of trying to communicate through language differences makes me think about how the other hand, sometimes you do not want to understand while not having barriers inbetween.
Tomorrow (today) will be the last day in Tokyo, and we expect the masterpiece: the Fujisan:-)
Leave a Reply