We like to thank everybody for a wonderful evening we will not soon forget, and we wish nothing but joy and good luck to the newly wedded Zenryu and Ava!

Take the time to speak to Ken at Nikko Park Lodge about his recommended places around Nikko and you’ll discover some amazing waterfalls, shrines, statues and cemetaries that are not often visited by the usual tourists.

The Bakejizo (Ghost Jizo), a line of around 40 jizo statues lining the banks of a river. They’re known as the Ghost Jizo because if you count them on the way up and again on the back down there will be a different number. Spooky!  But really beautiful. Sadly there should be more around a hundred but a flood many, many years ago washed some of the statues away. However the ones that are left are beautifully cared for in their red hats and bibs. It’s quite special to see so many of these type of statues together.

Another spooky place to visit just near to the BakeJizo is the Graveyard of the monks of Rinnoji Temple. Covered in moss and lichen, this ages old cemetary is a beautiful place to visit… but perhaps only during daylight hours.

(These places are a short walk West from the Toshogu Shrine complex along the Kamangafuchi Abyss. Make sure you drop in at Nikko Park Lodge Tobu Station for more information).

Before Nikko was famous for Toshogu Shrine it still had many visitors who came to see Takino Shrine, further up in the mountains. It’s still worth a visit now with some amazingly large and ancient trees, Inari shrine (fox shrine) and waterfalls.

(Takino Shrine is North of Toshogu Shrine and can be reached by a short walk through the forest).

Hanami, or ’flower viewing’, are very popular amoungst the Japanese and parks on the weekends are turned into a sea of blue as people mark out their picnic position with bright blue tarpaulins and mats. Festival food such as Takoyaki (dumpling balls made with octopus) and Okonomiyaki  (a kind of Japanese pancake cooked with noodles and vegetables) is provided by market wagons positioned conveniently around the outskirts of the park and people enjoy the warm springs day with a healthy dose of sake mixed in.

These photos were taken on Saturday 16th April, 2011 at Utsunomiya Park, just over 1 hours drive from Nikko. If you are travelling to Nikko by train you will pass through this city.

To the friends of Nikko Park Lodge,

In the wake of the Quake/Tsunami disaster, we have received many questions about the state of the area. We’d like to take this opportunity to assure you that life in Nikko continues as normal.

Spring flowers blooming in front of Nikko Park Lodge Tobu Station 15th April.

Nikko and the surrounding national parks were not damaged by the quake and there is no danger traveling in the area. You will find Nikko today exactly as it was before the quake; supermarkets and convenience stores are fully stocked with all food and drinks and there is no shortage of petrol (not even any lines!). While there are fewer tourists than usual, all temples and tourist attractions remain open and there are restaurants and cafes available to eat at.

The town of Nikko, in Tochigi Prefecture, is more than 100km away from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant and separated by a large mountain range and there is no concern about radiation here.

While the disaster caused some disruptions for the first few weeks to transportation the trains and buses are now running normally, although some have slightly altered timetables to help conserve energy. If you have any questions regarding how to get to Nikko by public transport please feel free to contact us here at Nikko Park Lodge.

And the most important thing; Nikko is currently looking beautiful! Clear blue sunny skies over the snow-capped mountains while the Sakura (cherry blossoms) are blooming on the trees. The temperature each day is about 20̊C (68̊F) and it’s getting warmer each day. Nights are still getting down to around 5̊C (40̊F) and of course it is colder in the mountains so remember to pack warm clothes.

Check out our blog at http://www.nikkoparklodge.com/blog/ for recent photos of the area.

View from Nikko Park Lodge Tobu station towards the mountains, 15th April

If you want to make the most of your time in Nikko we offer guided tours in English that can be tailored to our guests’ interests (eg. Temples and historic sites, waterfalls, nature trails). We ask for a minimum group size of 4 and charge ¥4000 per person (to access the same areas by public transport without the guide would be ¥3300 {1 day pass} or ¥3000 {2 day pass} by public bus). Let us know if you are interested in joining one of our guided tours.

Please let us know if you have any questions,

Warm Regards,

Ken Sakamoto and the staff of Nikko Park Lodge

www.nikkoparklodge.com/

We’d like to thank everyone very much for all the messages and support they’ve sent us the past couple of days.  Our deepest thoughts and sympathies go to the victims of this tragedy and their families.

All the guests and staff members of the Nikko Park Lodge are safe, we feel lucky that the damage was limited to just a few wine bottles. The major issue in Nikko at this moment is the low availability of public transportation; not many trains are going to Nikko, normal schedules are suspended because of the power-saving measurements. For a couple of hours a day, the electricity shuts down in certain parts of the country to save energy. As soon as the train system is running as usual again, we will let you know on this page.

The Nikko Park Lodge will continue to operate as usual, while following the news and developments in Japan closely. The safety and security of our guests and employees is our highest priority, and we fully understand that some of our guests have decided to postpone their visit to Nikko; we hope to see them in the near future. All cancellation fees from our website will be waived, we advise people who have booked at another site to contact their operators.

More information and photos of the current situation in Nikko are soon to follow, the Nikko Park Lodge staff will be updating this page.

Contact details:
e-mail: nikkoparklodge@gmail.com
phone: (81)288531201
fax: (81)288534332