Ishidorii
Tourists flow through the giant Ishidorii (Stone Torii Gate), the entrance to the Tosho-gu and one of the remaining features of the original 1617 shrine, was dedicated in 1618 by Kuroda Nagamasa, the feudal lord of Kyushu Chikuzen (present day Fukuoka Prefecture). The stone for the gate was transported by ship from Kyushu to Koyama and then manually hauled over land to Nikko.
The gate marks the entrance to the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. The shogun equested in his will a shrine to be built in his honor. One year after his death in 1616, the complex was completed. His grandson though, Tokugawa Iemitsu, thought that the mausoleum was not impressive enough, so he had it rebuilt in its lavish, over the top, design seen today. Ieyasu is enshrined at Toshogu as the deity Tosho Daigongen, "Great Deity of the East Shining Light". The complex, completed in 1634, was funded by the daimyo (the local feudal lords) with an estimated equivalent cost of ¥40 billion in today’s money, a brilliant move from Iemitsu’s side, who wanted to prevent rival lords from amassing fortunes of their own. The shrine complex was registered as a World Heritage site in December 1999.
Ishidorii
Tourists flow through the giant Ishidorii (Stone Torii Gate), the entrance to the Tosho-gu and one of the remaining features of the original 1617 shrine, was dedicated in 1618 by Kuroda Nagamasa, the feudal lord of Kyushu Chikuzen (present day Fukuoka Prefecture). The stone for the gate was transported by ship from Kyushu to Koyama and then manually hauled over land to Nikko.
The gate marks the entrance to the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. The shogun equested in his will a shrine to be built in his honor. One year after his death in 1616, the complex was completed. His grandson though, Tokugawa Iemitsu, thought that the mausoleum was not impressive enough, so he had it rebuilt in its lavish, over the top, design seen today. Ieyasu is enshrined at Toshogu as the deity Tosho Daigongen, "Great Deity of the East Shining Light". The complex, completed in 1634, was funded by the daimyo (the local feudal lords) with an estimated equivalent cost of ¥40 billion in today’s money, a brilliant move from Iemitsu’s side, who wanted to prevent rival lords from amassing fortunes of their own. The shrine complex was registered as a World Heritage site in December 1999.