The cedar avenue, Toshogu and the imperial villa
日光を1日で：杉並木、東照宮、田母沢御用邸
A day of shrines and cedars two hours from Tokyo, built on Jalan's Nikko day course of 30 September 2026, which drives; this one goes by train and bus, so the times between stops are ours and marked as estimates. We…
Entry and food as printed; every stop is priced.
Sora Nakamura · 1 October 2026 · Sora Nakamura is a pen name. Routes are drafted with AI assistance from the sources named on each stop, and read before they go out.
The line
The line
Nikko Cedar Avenue
Thirty-seven kilometres of road lined with more than twelve thousand cedars, some thirty metres tall. Look for the 'cherry cedar', a cherry growing out of a cedar, and the hollow trunk four adults can stand in.
train ≈50 min · Tobu railway from Kami-Imaichi to Tobu-Nikko, then on foot; Jalan gives thirty minutes on foot from Nikko Station
Nikko Toshogu
The shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, built in 1617 and rebuilt on a grand scale under the third shogun: fifty-five buildings, the three monkeys and the lacquered, painted carving everywhere. The museum and the treasure hall charge separately.
walk ≈8 min
Nikko Futarasan Shrine
The shrine of the mountain Nantai, and of the god of good fortune and matches. Its red lacquered Shinkyo bridge stands at the entrance to the shrine precinct; entry is free, the garden is not.
bus ≈15 min · Tobu bus towards Yumoto Onsen, Chuzenji Onsen, Okuhosoo or Kiyotaki to 'Nikko Tamozawa Goyotei Kinen Koen', then one minute on foot (Jalan)
Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa
An imperial villa of 106 rooms joining buildings of three eras, late Edo, Meiji and Taisho, with a weeping cherry of about four hundred years in the garden.
Plan B Closed on Tuesdays outside its busy spells: stay longer in Futarasan's garden instead.
日 Day by Day · NK
The day costs
¥2,200–2,700
≈ $14–17 · €12–15 at the ECB rate of 30 Sep
Per person · one adult · 4 of 4 stops priced
The day, in words
A day of shrines and cedars two hours from Tokyo, built on Jalan's Nikko day course of 30 September 2026, which drives; this one goes by train and bus, so the times between stops are ours and marked as estimates. We have not been. Every price and opening hour is Jalan's, from that article.
Toshogu and Futarasan keep shorter winter hours from 1 November: Toshogu closes at 16:00 and lets the last visitors in half an hour before. The imperial villa shuts on Tuesdays except in its four busy spells, so a Tuesday ends in Futarasan's garden instead.
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The letter · 23:00
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