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One of the many large [[torii]] on the site bears calligraphy from the hand of [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] reading "''Tôshô Dai-gongen''."
One of the many large [[torii]] on the site bears calligraphy from the hand of [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]] reading "''Tôshô Dai-gongen''."
The stables at the shrine house a special white horse, closely associated with the Emperor; in recent decades, each successive white horse has been a gift to Japan from the government of New Zealand. The stables also bear, within their carved decorations, what may be the original depiction of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys (J: ''mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru''). The famous monkeys are attributed to [[Hidari Jingoro|Hidari Jingorô]].<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 55.</ref>
The stables at the shrine house a special white horse, closely associated with the Emperor; in recent decades, each successive white horse has been a gift to Japan from the government of New Zealand. The stables also bear, within their carved decorations, what may be the original depiction of the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" monkeys (J: ''mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru''). The famous monkeys are attributed to [[Hidari Jingoro|Hidari Jingorô]].<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 55.</ref>
A mission was sent from the Imperial Court in [[1646]] to visit Nikkô. Shoguns and other members of the Tokugawa family paid formal visits to the shrine as well on seventeen occasions over the course of the Edo period, beginning in 1617 (with most of these visits taking place early on, during the reigns of Tokugawa Hidetada and Iemitsu). Additional "shogunal" visits to the shrine were performed by shogunate officials (''[[koke|kôke]]'', specifically) acting as the shogun's proxy.<ref>Daniele Lauro, "Displaying authority: Guns, political legitimacy, and martial pageantry in Tokugawa Japan, 1600 - 1868," MA Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2013), 34.</ref> Further, on several occasions in the 17th century, [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] were obliged to journey to the shrine as well (beginning in the 18th century, they visited [[Ueno Toshogu|Ueno Tôshôgû]] instead). A visit to the shrine by [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], if it can be taken as typical, involved a nine-day journey, and the shogun was accompanied by roughly 230,000 porters, 620,000 guards, and 305,000 horses.<ref>Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 352n3.</ref>
A mission was sent from the Imperial Court in [[1646]] to visit Nikkô. Shoguns and other members of the Tokugawa family paid formal visits to the shrine as well on seventeen occasions over the course of the Edo period, beginning in 1617 (with most of these visits taking place early on, during the reigns of Tokugawa Hidetada and Iemitsu). Additional "shogunal" visits to the shrine were performed by shogunate officials (''[[koke|kôke]]'', specifically) acting as the shogun's proxy.<ref>Daniele Lauro, "Displaying authority: Guns, political legitimacy, and martial pageantry in Tokugawa Japan, 1600 - 1868," MA Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2013), 34.</ref> Further, on several occasions in the 17th century, [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] were obliged to journey to the shrine as well (beginning in the 18th century, they visited [[Ueno Toshogu|Ueno Tôshôgû]] instead). A visit to the shrine by [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], if it can be taken as typical, involved a nine-day journey, and the shogun was accompanied by roughly 230,000 porters, 620,000 guards, and 305,000 horses.<ref>Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 352n3.</ref>
The shrine has undergone repair and restoration efforts on numerous occasions, including one effort in the 1740s-1750s, in which [[Miyagawa Choshun|Miyagawa Chôshun]] took part.
The shrine has undergone repair and restoration efforts on numerous occasions, including one effort in the 1740s-1750s, in which [[Miyagawa Choshun|Miyagawa Chôshun]] took part. In fact, repairs have taken place so frequently that a "temporary" shrine building known as the Okariden, originally constructed in [[1639]] to house the shrine's deities during such repair work, has been retained permanently. It is the only such ''okariden'' temporary shrine in Japan that is maintained as a permanent structure.
The complex was divided in three by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1871]] - Tôshôgu and [[Futaarasan Shrine]] as Shinto shrines, and [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] as a [[Buddhist temple]].<ref name=unesco>"[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/913 Shrines and Temples of Nikko]." UNESCO World Heritage Sites official webpage. UNESCO, 2012.</ref> This came at a time when a nationalist/Imperial cult of Shinto was being constructed, and the "foreign" religion of Buddhism was losing favor in the government. [[Matsudaira Katamori]] became the chief priest of the shrine in [[1880]].
The complex was divided in three by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1871]] - Tôshôgu and [[Futaarasan Shrine]] as Shinto shrines, and [[Rinno-ji|Rinnô-ji]] as a [[Buddhist temple]].<ref name=unesco>"[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/913 Shrines and Temples of Nikko]." UNESCO World Heritage Sites official webpage. UNESCO, 2012.</ref> This came at a time when a nationalist/Imperial cult of Shinto was being constructed, and the "foreign" religion of Buddhism was losing favor in the government. [[Matsudaira Katamori]] became the chief priest of the shrine in [[1880]].
==References==
==References==
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/54287904226/in/photostream/]
*Plaques on-site.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/54287904226/in/photostream/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/54288139419/in/photostream/]
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[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Shrines]]
[[Category:Shrines]]