We set off early for Nikko. Only a 2 hour drive, we went directly to the carpark for the Shrines. Our first port of call took us through Shoyuen Gardens opposite Rinnoji Temple. Shoyuen is a small traditional garden in typical Japanese style, with trees sprouting new green leaves under carpeted with hostas, azaleas, ferns, irises and other low growing plants. The conifers were as usual trimmed into neat topiary shapes.
As Rinnoji Temple is undergoing renovations we had a very quick look then walked on through the Tori gate of the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We wandered through beautiful forest up the "Sei-chu."….. the long pathway lined with stonewalls sprouting delicate ferns, leading to the Togoshu Shrine. It is apparently etiquette to walk to the side not the middle of the Sei-chu.