Here's another set of photos from the Nagasaki University's Metadatabase of Japanese Old Photographs. Having followed the cedar-lined road, and entered Nikko Toshogu, and gone through the Yomeimon, the next gate you see is the Karamon.
Late 19th century to early 20th century:
January 2013:
It's still being renovated? Yikes, it's a big project. It feels as though they've been fiddling and hammering and painting for the last ... well ... ever since my first visit yonks ago.
ReplyDeletePS: We're still looking at the exact same trees. Awesome!
They have been tinkering for yonks! I'm guessing the end date is either 2016 (400 years since Ieyasu's death) or 2017 (four hundred years since the founding of Nikko Toshogu). I'm looking forward to seeing in all its glory then, but am also slightly sad about the amount of re-doing that is being done...
DeleteYou'll still be able to see your passion before I get a chance to ride on mine - the maglev train will start running, if all goes well, between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027 and then to Osaka in 2045. I've got to get onto that train, even if you have to push me in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank!!! Promise you'll do that?!
DeleteWhat kind of redoing? Fairly drastic remodelling?
I will gladly take you and your oxygen tank on the train! (Can't promise I'll take you home at the end, however, you may find yourself pitched onto the track if you get too crotchety, minus oxygen tank of course, wouldn't want to cause an accident!;)
DeleteThe work, at least on the wings of the Yomeimon, consisted of taking apart the carvings, cleaning each panel and carving, re-applying lacquer, then gold leaf, then painting it allllll over again. Incredibly labour intensive!
But ... I'll be an obaasan with sharp elbows! How could I NOT be crotchety?!
DeleteOh, all right then, toss me to the dogs (or trains), but just do it AFTER my maiden (!) {I think I'm mixing my female sub-types} journey. OK?