Koukamon Gate (皇嘉門) at Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.
 |
| Iemitsu TOKUGAWA (image from Wiki) |
To enjoy what Taiyuin has to offer, you are supposed to pay 550 JPY (around $6-7). However, there are places that are still prohibited for visitors to enter. You will see warning "Off limit" signs at particular places.
Koukamon Gate, built under the influence of the Ming Dynasty style of China, is the entrance gate to the Okunoin Inner House (奥の院), where Iemitsu's spirit sleeps. There is no "Off limit" sign in front of the Koukamon Gate, however, no visitors are allowed to go any further than that gate. Even the priests working at Taiyuin have very limited opportunity to go through the gate. Yes, Okunoin Inner House is that sacred of a place!!!
This is a That's my world entry.
