Nicking Off To Nikko

With Mrs. Kangaeroo celebrating another trip around the sun, we headed off Nikko to celebrate.

Nikko is home to Toshogu Shrine, where the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868.

Mrs. Kangaeroo had never visited despite the shrine being a typical destination for Japanese school trips.

I wasn’t keen, as Nikko is one of Japan’s prime tourist destinations, and I wasn’t looking forward to being surrounded by the hordes of vsitors that has most of the country moaning about “overtourism.”

But Mrs. Kangaeroo loves celebrating her birthday, so I shut my mouth and determined to make it a fun time for her. This wasn’t going to be easy as I’ve had a nagging cold and grinding cough gnawing at my good will for the past week.

And, as is so often the case when I have poor preconceptions but get to accompany Mrs. Kangaeroo, I had a magnificent time in what turned out to be a magical and opulent weekend.

We started with a delightful meal at the Meiji no Yakata, which is a restaurant on the outskirts of the grounds of Toshogu. It’s a recreation of a 19th century building surrounded by grounds that would probably look fantastic in the summer. We got shunted into an annex, which gave us a quieter place to dine. The meal was fantastic and kick-started a couple of days of delicious dining.

We walked off the meal by strolling around Toshogu, which counts being the origin of the Three Wise Monkeys of “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” among its highlights. We enjoyed the shrine and its surrounds.

Having taken in the sights, we took a huge walk to the nearest convenience store (which turned out to be literally miles away), and then headed to the Kanaya Hotel, which was the true destination for us this weekend.

The hotel was sublime. We had scrumptious meals for dinner and then again breakfast. The staff were friendly, helpful and outstanding in the execution of their work. The hotel with a history of over 150 years has its roots in the colonial mentality of the 19th century, but nowadays provides a luxurious taste for all. Having become accustomed to the weekend’s opulence, we headed back toward home on the amazing Spacia X express train, which made the two-hour journey back to central Tokyo a delightful one through its comfortable traveling conditions, which included access to a posh dining car usually reserved for premium guests.