Nikko and Lake Chuzenji

Today was our last non-working day together with Irving, so we all hopped in the car bright and early (too early for Samantha - not even banana pancakes could get her out of bed) for a 3-hour drive to Nikko, about 130km north of Tokyo. It's a quiet city in Tochigi Prefecture, just on the edge of the mountains. The city holds a number of UNESCO world heritage sites, among them the mauseleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns (the family ruled from 1603-1868), and the dude who more or less unified Japan.


The area in front of the Tobu train station in Nikko. Nice town. 

About 20km west of the town (and 1500m up) is Lake Chuzenji (中禅寺湖 - chuzenji-ko). About 20,000 years ago an eruption of Mount Nantai, on the lake's north shore, dammed up the steep valley the Daiya River flowed through and created the 163 meter-deep lake.


Lake Chuzenji. The forests on the shores make it a popular tourist destination in the spring and fall.

The outlet for the lake is the Kegon Falls on the eastern side. The falls are huge, and were traditionally a popular place for lovers with no prospects for marriage to throw themselves from.


Kegon Falls, 97m tall. The picture doesn't really convey how huge it is. 

As you can imagine, the shoreline of the lake is crowded with shrines (and hot springs).


Sam and Irving standing under a shrine on the lake shore.