Tamozawa Imperial Villa (田母沢御用邸)

Tamozawa Imperial Villa (田母沢御用邸) blends traditional Edo and early modern Meiji Period architecture throughout its 106 rooms. The villa was erected in Nikko in 1899, using parts of a residence that originally stood in Tokyo.

Before being moved to Nikko, the building served initially as the Tokyo residence of a branch of the Tokugawa family and was later temporarily used as the Imperial Palace. In Nikko, it was enlarged into a summer residence and retreat for the Imperial Family, but suffered neglect after World War II. In the year 2000, the villa was opened to the public after extensive renovation works.

In addition to the building's long line of illustrious occupants, Tamozawa Imperial Villa is one of the largest remaining wooden buildings in Japan. The interior of the villa is a curious mix of Japanese and Western styles. Many floors are carpeted, and elaborate chandeliers hang from the ceilings. Yet the villa's Japanese elements, such as sliding paper doors and tatami flooring are prominent as well.

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Nikkō (日光市)

Nikko (日光) is a town at the entrance to Nikko National Park, most famous for Toshogu, Japan's most lavishly decorated shrine and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Nikko had been a center of Shinto and Buddhist mountain worship for many centuries before Toshogu was built in the 1600s, and Nikko National Park continues to offer scenic, mountainous landscapes, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, wild monkeys and hiking trails.

Nikko and the Okunikko area around Lake Chuzenji, in particular, are well known for their beautiful autumn colors (koyo). In the average year the colors start descending from the higher elevations of Yumoto Onsen in early October, are best around Lake Chuzenji and the Irohazaka road in mid to late October and reach the town of Nikko in the first half of November.

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Shinkyo Bridge (神橋)

The Shinkyo Bridge (神橋) stands at the entrance to Nikko's shrines and temples, and technically belongs to Futarasan Shrine. The bridge is ranked as one of Japan's three finest bridges together with Iwakuni's Kintaikyo and Saruhashi in Yamanashi Prefecture.

The current Shinkyo was constructed in 1636, but a bridge of some kind had marked the same spot for much longer, although its exact origins are unclear. Until 1973, Shinkyo was off limit to the general public. It underwent extensive renovation works in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and visitors can now walk across the bridge and back for an entrance fee.





神橋橋日光の社寺の入口に立って、そして技術的に二荒山神社に属します。ブリッジは、山梨県の岩国の錦帯橋と猿橋とともに日本三級の橋の一つとしてランクされています。

現在の神橋は1636年に建設されたが、その正確な起源は不明であるが、いくつかの種類の橋は、はるかに長いため、同じ場所をマークしていた。 1973年までは、神橋は一般市民には限界オフになっていました。それは、 1990年代後半と2000年代初頭における大規模な改装工事を経て、訪問者はすぐに戻って入場料のための橋を歩いて渡ることができます。

Photo:

"Shinkyō October 2008" by Nick-D - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shinky%C5%8D_October_2008.JPG#/media/File:Shinky%C5%8D_October_2008.JPG

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