Tochigi · Oku-NikkoNo.1114★★★Open in map →
Futarasan Chugushi Shrine
— Nikko's lakeside shrine below Mt Nantai
The middle hall of Nikko's oldest shrine, on the north shore of Lake Chuzenji at the foot of the volcano it worships. Behind the sanctuary stands a gate that opens onto the climb up that mountain.
- FromAsakusa Station
- ~3 hrTobu express, then bus
- Get off atFutarasan Jinja Chugushi bus stop (Yumoto Onsen line)
- On foot
- Futarasan Chugushi Shrine
Where it is
16 more notes in Tochigi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The great torii on the lake roada vermilion gate at the roadside with Mt Nantai directly behind it
- The stone steps and the gatea stair between two cedars hung with paper streamers, rising to a vermilion gate
- The worship hallthe hall before the sanctuary, among buildings designated Important Cultural Properties
- The treasure halla display of the swords and other treasures kept by the shrine
- Tohaimon, the climbing gatethe gate behind the sanctuary opening onto the trail up the mountain
How to actually get there
- Asakusa Station → Tobu Nikko Station (Tobu Nikko Line, limited express).
- Tobu Nikko Station → Futarasan Jinja Chugushi stop (bus for Yumoto Onsen, about 55 min).
- Through the great torii, up the stone steps to the gate and the worship hall.
- To climb Mt Nantai, register at the shrine before noon and only in the open season.
- Tobu limited express from Asakusa, then the Yumoto Onsen bus
- Asakusa Station →(Tobu Nikko Line, limited express)→ Tobu Nikko Station, then a bus bound for Yumoto Onsen from the station forecourt, about 55 minutes up the Irohazaka switchbacks to the Futarasan Jinja Chugushi stop. Local and rapid trains run the same line for less and take longer.
- Back down the pass
- Take the same route in reverse, catching the Nikko-bound bus from the stop across the road. Services up here thin out through the late afternoon and the descent is slow, so settle your return before you commit to anything long.
About the place
Futarasan Shrine does not fit inside one compound. It holds three places at once: the main hall in the Nikko precinct, this middle hall on the lake shore, and an inner shrine on the summit of Mt Nantai at 2,486 metres. The mountain is not a view from the shrine. The mountain is the deity. Lava from it once dammed the valley and made Lake Chuzenji, which now lies in front of the sanctuary. Stand at the roadside torii and the arrangement reads as landscape: water ahead, and behind the halls the ground goes straight up.
How to enjoy it
The climbing gate is open from 25 April to 11 November, and registration for the mountain runs from 6:00 until noon, after which no one is let through. The round trip takes about seven hours, so the bus that gets you here in time is an early one. If you are not climbing, the grounds and the treasure hall make a short, level visit, with the lake a few steps below the torii.
Background & history
Nikko became a place of practice through the monk Shodo Shonin, more than 1,200 years ago. In the 780s he reached the summit of the mountain and built an inner shrine on it, and the worship of the peak begins there. This middle hall was founded in 784, filling the gap between that summit shrine and the main hall down in the town. Its buildings are designated Important Cultural Properties, and the swords the shrine has kept are held in a treasure hall on the grounds.
Before you go
- Cash
- Visiting the grounds is free. Climbing the mountain is not: registration at the shrine was 1,000 yen for adults when checked, with middle-school age and younger admitted free. Bus rides up the pass are long ones, so an IC card or a Tobu area pass saves counting out change.
- Before you go
- Opening shifts with the season: 8:00 to 17:00 from April to October, 9:00 to 16:00 from November to March. The trail is shut outside the climbing season, and there is no water and no toilet anywhere along it. This is high ground, and snow lies here when the town below is clear.
- Another way
- From Tokyo you can also take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Utsunomiya and change to the JR Nikko Line for JR Nikko Station, which the same bus serves. Drivers reach the lake by the Irohazaka road up the wall of the valley.
- After you get off
- The Futarasan Jinja Chugushi stop sits on the lake road directly below the shrine. Pass through the great torii at the roadside and climb the stone steps to the gate and the halls.