Nikko Futarasan Shrine

The ancient Futarasan Shrine is where the Nikko mountain faith began. It has been long-worshipped as the enshrinement of the Futara-san (another name for Mt. Nantai) god. The beautiful vermillion lacquered wooden Sacred Bridge (shinkyo) adorning the entrance to the mountains of Nikko might also be called the gateway to the World Heritage Site “Shrines and Temples of Nikko.”

The faith born from the mountains embodied itself in various forms at Nikko. The strong faith instilled in people during the Nara period (710 - 794) remained with them throughout the years as they made clearings in the mountains to build temples, shrines, and Buddhist statues. Many of the craftsmen settled here to build temples and shrines and continue caring for them. The monuments surrounding the area’s Nisha Ichiji (literally ‘two shrines and one temple’ made up of Futarasan Shrine, Tosho-gu Shrine, and Rinno-ji Temple) and their architecture were collectively registered as a World Heritage Site in 1999 as the “Shrines and Temples of Nikko.” We can learn about the forms born from the flow of time from the past to the present through the “Shrines and Temples of Nikko.”

    • Nikkosan Rinno-ji Temple

      Nikkosan Rinno-ji Temple is the collective name for the halls, pagodas and 15 sub temples that comprise the temple. Its origin goes back more than 1200 years when Shodo Shonin built Shihonryu-ji Temple. The Sanbutsudo Hall is the largest-scale wooden structure at Nikko and enshrines the Buddhist manifestations of the “kami,” or gods, of Nikko’s three mountains embodied in the three statues of Buddhist deities housed here.

    • Iemitsubyo Taiyuin Mausoleum

      This mausoleum dedicated to Iemitsu, the third shogun, stands at Nikkosan Rinno-ji Temple. Taiyuin is the name given to Iemitsu posthumously. It was built by the fourth shogun, Ietsuna in accordance with Iemitsu’s will so that he could serve his grandfather Ieyasu, whom he had a deep respect for, even in death. The mausoleum was built so that it looks upon Tosho-gu Shrine, a testament to Iemitsu’s reverence for Ieyasu.

    • Chuzen-ji Temple, Tachiki Kannon

      A branch of Nikkosan Rinno-ji Temple built by Shodo Shonin, the monk who pioneered Nikko. The principal object of worship at the temple is the Juichimen-senju Kannon Bosatsu (Kannon with eleven faces and one thousand arms), which is an Important Cultural Property. It is said Shodo Shonin saw the Senju Kannon appear over Lake Chuzenji and carved its image in a standing Judas tree.