Photo: Gryffindor, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
Built for the Emperor Taisho in 1899, the former imperial villa also served as a hide-out for Hirohito during World War II.
Tamozawa Imperial Villa is a former imperial summer residence in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
憾満ヶ淵
A long series of jizo protector statues on the side of a hill, some adorned with hats and bibs, some crumbling with age, with a river, small waterfalls and rapids below. Legend says that the statues change places from time to time, and a visitor will never see them in the same order twice. It can be tricky to find - at Shinkyō, instead of heading up the steps to the temple area, follow the road around to the west (to the left, if you crossed over the bridge) and walk roughly half an hour following the river - look for signs along the way. You will be walking through a residential area. If you pass the Turtle Inn, you are heading in the correct direction.
大猷院廟
Iemitsu, the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun and grandson of Ieyasu, is buried here. Smaller, although much more beautiful than Tōshōgū. The main hall and mausoleum can only be viewed from outside. Unlike Tōshōgū, the tomb is not accessible to the public.
Has plenty of the local flora and gardens that were said to be favorites of the Emperor Taisho. It's now an adjunct to Tokyo University.
東照宮宝物館
A small museum of artifacts related to Tōshōgū and the Tokugawa dynasty. The introductory video is quite good, and the fascinating half-Japanese, half-Western suit of armor that Ieyasu is said to have worn at the Battle of Sekigahara is worth a look, but the rest of the exhibits are a bit lackluster: old scrolls, swords and knickknacks. The cafe is a nice place for a break though. Tickets can be bought in combination with the shrine or separately.
東照宮
The official mausoleum of dynasty founder Tokugawa Ieyasu and the most extravagant temple in Nikko, constructed in 1634 on the order of his grandson Iemitsu, though not his actual resting place. The shrine took 2 years to complete with the efforts of 15,000 workers. Although the surrounding shrine is very ornate, the tomb itself is surprisingly simple and unassuming. While it had been believed that Tokugawa Ieyasu's body was moved here from Kunōzan Tōshō-gū in Shizuoka following its completion, 21st-century research has revealed that his body was never moved here and remains in Shizuoka.
輪王寺
Founded by Shodo Shonin, the monk that introduced Buddhism to Nikko in the 8th century. Known for its three large Buddha figures (at the Sanbutsudoh Hall portion of Rinnoji Temple) and for the beautiful and peaceful Shōyō-en Garden (逍遥園), the entrance price allows you to see one of the three Buddhas and the renovation works.