Day 3 of Winter Travel in Nikko ~Nikko Kanaya Hotel, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, and Matsuyashiki~
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It’s about time for my trip to come to a close. I returned to Nikko Kanaya Hotel to pick up the luggage I had left there.

I took a bit of a detour and visited my relatives at their house, where they offer Nikko-bori, or Nikko woodcarving.
Nikko-bori is unique in its use of a triangular blade for carving, called “hikkaki-tou.” Plant life, such as peonies, chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, and the like are common themes in the carvings, and you can see its stylistic influences in the carvings at Nikko Toshogu Shrine. You can get hands-on experiences with Nikko-bori at several places in Nikko City, so it might make for a great commemorative piece.

I took the limited express train “Nikko-go” from Tobu Nikko Station to Shinjuku.

新型特快列車500系「Revaty」。This is the new 500-series express train, “Revaty.”

I wanted to try taking the Revaty too, but it currently only goes to Asakusa in Tokyo. It would end up with a long, roundabout trip home for me, so I skipped it this time.

This train was a refurbished 253-series that used to be used on the Narita Express.

The seats in odd-numbered cars are orange to represent Japanese azalea and autumn leaves, while the seats in the even-numbered cars are blue to represent Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji.

On the way to Nikko I was in orange seats in the #1 car, but on the way back I was seated in blue seats in the #6 car.

Instead of buying dinner, I ate a Nikko specialty, age-yuba manju, that I bought at “Sakaeya” in front of the station.

On this trip, I was unable to see all of the World Heritage Site of the Shrines and Temples of Nikko due to the renovations, so I’d like to visit again once the renovations are completed.
Before my trip I thought that it might still be snowy since it was still February, but instead it was mostly sunny for all three days. Nikko is well-known for its summers and autumns, but I’d recommend visiting during winter since there are fewer tourists and you can enjoy some snowy scenery too.