Life is like a long journey with a heavy burden. This is what Tokugawa Ieyasu ( 徳川家康 1542～1616 ）said in his old age. Ieyasu, the founder and the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was the last victor of the bloody civil wars that began in 1467. He created a foundation for peace internally and externally that lasted for about 250 years. The Edo period started when Ieyasu became Shogun in 1603 after his victory at Sekigahara in 1600 and it continued until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Yomei-mon Gate（陽明門）
Tokugawa Ieyasu in Office, 1603–1605, by Kano Tanyu（狩野探幽） Edo period
The Battle of Sekigahara, The Tokugawa Art Museum, Edo period
Nikko Toshogu Shrine(日光東照宮）, the mausoleum of Ieyasu, was initially built in 1617 －a year after his death. It was a small mausoleum then, for Ieyasu had left in his will that he only wanted to build a small one. However, Ieyasu’s grandson Iemitsu, who was the third Shogun and who respected his grandfather very much, enlarged it to a grand scale during his reign. I don’t think that Ieyasu himself would have liked his grandson’s idea because the later constructions required large sums of the Tokugawa’s money and partially contributed to the financial deterioration of the Tokugawa regime.
Nikko Toshogu Shrine(日光東照宮）
Kamijinko(上神庫 Upper Storehouse)
left: Koro(鼓楼：Koro Drum Tower)
five-storied pagoda
top: Imaginary Elephants lower right: Sleeping Cat (it looks like my former cat!)
lower center: Three Wise Monkeys. lower left: face of a NIO statue
Taiyu-in( 大猷院） which now belongs to Nikko-zan Rinnoji Temple( 輪王寺） is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu(徳川家光）, the third Shogun. Its site is smaller than the Toshogu, for Iemitsu didn’t want his mausoleum to be grander than his grandfather's.The Niten-mon Gate(二天門）
Mizuya(水屋)
A garden in Rinno-ji
Shoro( 鐘楼 bell tower）
Yasha-mon Gate (夜叉門）
Four statues of Yasha or ogres are placed in the Yasha-mon gate.
The Blue Yasha protects the east against demons. The Red Yasha protects the south.
The Honden Main Hall (Taiyu-in)
The Niomon Gate
There are about 5,000 lavish and colorful carvings which were created by the best sculptors of the Edo period on the buildings and gates. It was fun to see many lovely animal carvings and the interesting statues of various deities on both sites.
What I’ve put up on this page are only some of the cultural heritage sites that Nikko has. I think it takes more than a day to see all the Nikko World Heritage sites.
Shinkyo-bridge(Futarasan-jinja Shrine)
The BBC produced a fantastic film about Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though many foreign films which deal with samurais such as “Last Samurai (starring Tom Cruise)” as well as many Ninja films seem strange in historical verisimilitude and so on to the eyes of Japanese people, I was really surprised to find that the BBC had created a great one in English with a good investigation into Tokugawa's historical background. If you are interested in it, the trailer is here.
You can see Nikko Toshogu in detail here.↓
Related post about Nikko: Travel to Nikko
29 comments:
"He created a foundation for peace internally and externally that lasted for about 250 years."
I wonder what this foundation was? I must study Japanese history more (sigh).
"the BBC had created a great one in English with a good investigation into Tokugawa's historical background."
BBC-made but all the "Japanese" characters speak American English! Can't comment on the accuracy, but the first few minutes was just the usual blood-filled revenge frenzy of all Japanese historical dramas. They're all the same.
Why are the elephants imaginary?
The photos are all so beautiful and serene. It's funny but the journey seemed long when I was young and now that I am older the journey seems so much shorter, and the burden is lighter.
I think we have the choice of offloading some of the burden when we feel it's too much...when we feel that we have reached our limits, we become more philosophical and are able to find our priorities and worry less about the trivial...well, it's what i feel...
Marc-sensei:
Thanks for your comments. I wanted to put up a Japanese documentary film about Ieyasu but it had no English subtitles. Since I've read many history books on the Sengoku age and about the historical figures of the age, I would think the BBC film is good for the most part in historical verisimilitude though the characters don't speak Japanese. The Sengoku age (the Warring States period) including the Azuchi-Momoyama period was truly a brutal age. Ieyasu in fact spent most of his life doing tough military operations.
Ieyasu was appointed Shogun by Emperor Go-Yozei when he was 60 and became the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate which is also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu (Edo Bakufu) in Japanese in 1603. You know there were other Shogunates in Japan such as the Kamakura Shogunate(1192–1333) and Ashikaga(Muromachi) Shogunate(1336–1573). Ieyasu was the shogun and he used his remaining years with scruputous care to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa (or Edo) period brought 250 years of stability to Japan. The Edo period was the age of peace(about 250 years) and there were no civil wars or no foreign wars except the siege of Osaka Castle at its embryonic stage
and some battles in its final years. Though the third Shogun Iemitsu actually issued the Closed Country Edict of 1635, many Japanese people think that the peace during the Edo period was due to the solidity of the Tokugawa Bakufu the foundation of which had been established by Ieyasu, the last victor, according to his meticulous master plan.
I know many people in Kansai dislike Ieyasu, for the western army(led by Ishida Mitsunari)was defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara.
Suze
Oh I should have explained about them. The two animals are called "Sozo-no-Zo", literally "Imaginary Elephants". They were designed by the famous artist Kano Tan-yu who had never seen real elephants.
Linda
Thanks! I'm glad to hear that "the burden is lighter"!
DeeBeeL
I totally agree! But in the age when Ieyasu lived, I suppose it was very difficult for Ieyasu who had lots of retainers to live freely.
Beautiful photos - and so serene! Thank you for fueling my fascination for a part of the world I truly long to visit.
Any person that works toward peace of any kind is a hero to me.
Thanks! Ieyasu was a realist, not a Utopian. He had to fight many wars for his and his kingdom's survival. It was a very difficult time then.
thank you for all the nice photos. What I like about your blog, is that I learn something new every time I read a post.
I presume he'd seen images of elephants ... ?
I learn so much when I am here. Thank you! Off to see about that BBC series.
Thanks for the history lesson, Sapphire. The basis of this peace seems to me important: was it maintained by fire and the sword, or the threat thereof? Or by something else? If so, what?
Progress was made in the West with the discovery that granting individual freedom (of movement, of association, of keeping the fruits of own's labour, etc.), trade blossomed, which meant that people discovered they could get what they wanted by voluntary cooperation and agreement (private contract), rather than violence or threat thereof.
I take the "long journey" (full of interesting events) and I let the "heavy burden".
Thank you to share your beautiful photos. The architecture, the decorations, all is amazing and extremely delicate. It must take time to admire all the details. How is your sensation when you are inside the buildings?
Anne
Margit
Thanks so much!
Suze
Oh I'm afraid my explanation was not good. Some elephants(or an elephant)were/was first introduced to Japan in 1402 and were/was presented to Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fourth Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate by some Europeans(maybe Spanish or Portuguese people). Since then, no elephants came to Japan until the middle of the Edo period. The elephant story was passed on from generation to generation. Perhaps some people drew the animal(s) in 1402. I have no idea if those drawings remained when Kano Tanyu was alive(We have no drawings about the elephants of 1402). But he must have known the story.
Giulia
Thanks! I'm glad to know that you are safe!
Anne
Thanks! Though I've been to Nikko several times because it is not far away from here, it was always fun to look at the carvings of various creatures. There are various types of dragons as well. I wondered why the designers of the buildings had put so many dragons on the gates. maybe to fireproof? Anyway, Nikko is a very interesting place.
Marc-sensei
I suppose that the reasons for Bakufu's capability of maintaining peace and stability during the Edo period are quite numerous. What you can see below are only some of them:
Firstly, the Tokugawa political system was very complex in its operation. It was very very bureaucratic. Unlike the samurais in the Sengoku age(like the ones in the BBC film), the samurais in the Edo period were just like public bureaucrats and in fact they were administrators. Most of them were highy-educated because there were no wars. It is often said that the Edo period was the age of culture. The Tokugawa regime was basically feudal in structure(based on the accepted system of daimyo(lord) domains which Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had been developing), but it represented a highly organised and stable stage of feudalism. And the Bakufu maintained peace by the strict regulation of the other powers of Japan(there were really many rules such as buke-shohatto(武家諸法度), etc. and thus there own influence was an omnipresent force throughout the country.
Secondly, Confucian ideological theory which was supported by most people during the period must have been helpful in maintaining peace.
Thirdly, the fact that Ieyasu
was appointed Shogun by the Emperor,legitimate sovereign of the country, must have been very important to the people in that time.
It seems to me that what you've written about the West are some generalizations about the bright side(of a certain country). They sound GREAT! However, I suppose there are many other countries in the West and each country has its own history. Some powerful countries had their colonies the products of which greatly contributed to the economic development of their suzerains. On the other hand, some countries in the West didn't have any colonies. I took a class of British history in college so I know about it a little. Unlike me, you must have a thorough knowledge of it. "rather than violence or threat thereof"?? Ｉ wonder how European people, including Irish people, feel about this. And I wonder if "granting individual freedom" was also applied to the native people in the colonized areas in the 17~19th centuries. Anyway, I would think every country has its own Yin and Yang. I enjoyed talking with you a lot but no more questions about this post, please, for they sound like my homework（笑）I'm not your student and I'm a little tired. Thank you.
Suze
About the elephant(s) of 1402, what I mention has some uncertainty or mistake. According to the Japanese document which has an account of the elephant, it came to Japan by ship. The ship called "Namban-sen南蛮船" which generally represents Spanish or Portuguese ships. I suppose the "Namban-sen" of 1402 can't have been a Spanish or a Portuguese ship. Probably it was a Chinese ship or a ship from Southeast Asia.
手元に 東照宮再発見という一冊の本があります 著者は 高藤晴俊さん
ここには 不思議がいっぱいですね
天海の壮大なプログラム？
天海は 光秀だった。。
伝承って なかなか あなどれないなと
最近 つくづく 憶うことがあります☆
いつか ゆっくり訪ねてみたい場所です♪
吟遊詩人さん、こんばんは
その本、わたし、読んだことがないです。今度読みたいと思います。面白そう！ご紹介、ありがとうございます。
天海さんはじつに魔術的な匂いがしますね。それに多才。光秀説も面白いです。コメント、ありがとうございます。
Those temples are all so ornate and beautiful. I especially love the colorful Yasha and what they symbolize. When you first mentioned Shogun I immediately thought of James Clavell's novel Shogun. I've not read it but have an uncle who is a big fan of it so I really must put it on my reading list. I've slowed down on blogging so have had much more time to read. A good thing I think.
On the koi, thanks so much for the websites. I checked them both out. The fish and coloring are amazing. I also liked seeing the mud pond. It's really something how the koi show up so well in the ponds.
What a lavishly decorated shrine! Nikko Toshogu has distinctive features different from Japanese shrine style of unpainted woods. Though I visited there long time ago, I was almost forgetting except the carvings of Three Wise Monkeys. Thank you for the reminder. As one of Kansai people, I don’t dislike Ieyasu, maybe because in any period drama, Ieyasu has been depicted as a man who had seen the world, and personally I prefer Ieyasu to Hideyoshi.
今は本当に台風が来るのかと思えるほど静かです。 関東も大雨が続くと聞きましたが、お互いに気をつけましょう。台風のあとは涼しくなるといいのですが。
I keep coming back to read and study all the photos and history. So beautiful and thoughtful. Thank you.
tina
You're welcome. And thanks for your lovely comment. There are two more Yasha: the white one protecting the west and the green one protecting the north.
Toranaga, one of the main characters in the James Clavell's "Shogun" is actually based on Tokugawa Ieyasu. Unfortunately, I haven't read the novel and only saw its film(starring Richard Chamberlain as Blackthorne) on TV but one of my American friends told me that the novel was fantastic. Blackthorne is loosely based on William Adams, an English sailor, who is also known as Miura Anjin(Japanese name)and who became the first blue-eyed samurai. He is very famous in Japan. You can read about him here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor)
stardust
Thanks for reading this post, stardust. I too prefer Ieyasu to Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Julius Caesar once said "Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish". I think Ieyasu was a man who could look straight in the eye what he didn't wish. But I'm afraid Hideyoshi couldn't do so in his old age and brought a lot of sufferings to Korea and to our country as well.
台風、くれぐれも気をつけてくださいね。こちらは雨が降っている程度です。
Charlene Doiron Reinhart
Thanks for reading this post and commenting! Oh I'm afraid my explanations on history in this post are not so good.
Oh the carving is truly amazing to have such skill and patience and the greenery complements the temples so well. I can just imagine walking in that lushness. I miss living in the mountains seeing this post, but I can still remember so that is good.
Linda
Thanks for reading this post.
As you say, the shrines and temples of Nikko are in the mountains and it is often foggy there. I think I shoud have explained more about the carving....
Thanks for your comment.
"learn anything from Ieyasu and his legacy of 250 years of peace?" I would think that each age has had its own worldview-it's own paradigm-which defines the expectations and limitations of the people living in the period. But there have always been some great people(such as Smith and Locke) whose theories or philosophies have contirubuted a lot to a transformation and a paradigm shift. Smith and Locke were philosophers but Ieyasu was not. Ieyasu in fact played a very importatnt role in building an age of peace though his worldview was old, viewed from people of today. I guess the role of philosophers is different from that of statesmen.
I suppose one thing that Japanese people should learn from the Edo period is the ecological way of living. For example, Edo was a completely recycling-based society.
Marc
I really appreciate your detailed explanations but Norton Internet Sercurity has always warned me of having a risk just after you posted comments which had hyperlinks within them. I didn't want to delete your comments but I could not help it. I would apprecite your understanding.
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