Shrines and Temples of Nikko

Gilded carvings, lacquered gates and cedar avenues make Nikko the most flamboyant sacred precinct in Japan. Its shrines and temples climb forested slopes north of Tokyo, and the ornate Toshogu — mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the dynasty of shoguns that ruled Japan for more than two centuries — is the dazzling centrepiece, alongside Futarasan Shrine and Rinno-ji temple. UNESCO inscribed the Shrines and Temples of Nikko in 1999, joining centuries of worship with masterly decoration and landscape.