Nikko, and Izu Peninsula

Nikko is in the mountains north of Tokyo, whereas the Izu Peninsula is westward. There the Pacific plate descends under the Asian plate, with earthquakes. Volatile materials rise from the former seafloor causing concentrated volcanic activity.

Nikko: Toshogu Shrine

This shrine was built by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu to commemorate his grandfather, Ieyasu.

Peripheral building	Entrance road to the shrine	Donor's commemorative stela	Torii gate at shrine entrance
Five level pagoda	View through shrine gate	Outer entrance to shrine	Outer courtyard of shrine
Outer square of shrine	Gable end decorations	Monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil	Beautifully decorated purification fountain
Ornately decorated gate to the inner shrine	Guardian warrior at the inner shrine gate	Portable shrine symbolizing Tokugawa Ieyasu.	Whiskey and sake barrels next to shrine
Ornamentation over door of portable shrine storage	Another wood carving	Sleepy cat wood carving	Sparrow wood carving

Nikko: Kagon Falls

Kagon Falls through trees and clouds	Alice in the snow	Snowy tree by Kagon Falls observation deck	Another view of Kagon Falls
The bottom of Kagon Falls	Snowy woods near Kagon Falls

Izu Peninsula: Mt. Fuji

Unfortunately a storm was moving through, and it snowed 15 cm the previous night.

Fujiyama visitors' center

Base of Mt. Fuji

Izu Peninsula: Lake Ashi

Hakone, at the east end of Lake Ashi, is the town where we stayed.

We took a cruise on Lake Ashi in this sightseeing boat.	View across Lake Ashi from the boat dock.	Pirate ship for sightseeing on the lake	View west along Lake Ashi
View of lake shore around Moto Hakone	Town of Moto Hakone.	Bridge to shrine	Torii gate to lakeside shrine
Lakeside hotel

Izu Peninsula: Mt. Kama Geothermal Area

Geothermal area from the visitors' center	Pretty flowering tree	One of the hot springs	Hot spring's overflow creek
A lava block at the edge of one of the springs	Golf course on the valley floor	Alice at hot spring	Gaggle of schoolchildren coming up to the hot spring
Magic eggs	Hot spring where the magic eggs are boiled

Izu Peninsula: Mt. Komagitake Ropeway

This is a cable car. The previous day's storm was still around. Without it we would have had a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji.

Mountain cherry tree at lower station

Top of mountain

Shrine atop Mt. Komagatake

Upper ropeway station

Izu Peninsula: Hakone Checkpoint

The shogun required that the wives of the daimyo (feudal lords) stay in the capital and participate at court even when the lord was in his home territory. Can you say hostage? Also armed men travelling to the capital were dangerous. A number of checkpoints enforced these rules.

Administrative area where passports were checked

Armory with bows, arrows and rifles

Common soldiers' barracks

The jail