Nikkô Tôshô-gû 日光東照宮

Mausoleum of Shôgun TOKUGAWA Ieyasu

japanischer Shintô-Schrein

Nikkô National Park / Tôchigi Prefecture

Tōshō-gū is a Shintō shrine in the city of Nikkō in Tochigi prefecture in the Nikkô National Park. It is dedicated to TOKUGAWA Ieyasu (1543-1616), founder of the Tokugawa dynasty, and was built in 1617 under Ieyasu’s son, Hidetada, and expanded by the third shōgun, TOKUGAWA Iemitsu, during which the main buildings of the present-day shrine were constructed. In 1999 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other shrines and temples in Nikkō. Ieyasu is venerated in the Nikkō Tōshō-gū, and his remains are also interred here. Hundreds of stone steps lead up through a crescent fir forest to Ieyasu’s tomb in the inner district (okunoin) of the shrine. The Procession of a Thousand Warriors, which recreates the procession in which the shogun’s remains were transferred to Nikkô, takes place in May.