Tochigi: Local Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines & Temples, Sightseeing | Japan 47 Prefecture Guide
No other prefecture has held first place in Japan for a single fruit as long as Tochigi has.
Local Specialties
Tochigi has harvested more strawberries than any other prefecture for over fifty years running. Tochiotome, Skyberry, Tochiaika: much of it comes down to the prefecture breeding its own varieties, decade after decade.
Strawberries want plenty of winter sunshine and evenings that turn cold. Sitting at the northern edge of the Kanto plain is, in itself, the qualification.
Most of Japan's kanpyo is grown here. Calabash gourd is pared into long ribbons and dried. That brown strip inside your rolled sushi almost certainly came from this prefecture.
Nikko's yuba is a soybean food that spread out of the vegetarian cooking of the temples.
Souvenirs
Strawberry confectionery leads. Then Nikko yokan and dried yuba.
Lemon milk is a milk drink that has carried the name for decades without containing any lemon juice. Something drunk locally for years, which only later became a souvenir.
Sacred Sites | Shrines & Temples
Nikko Toshogu and Nikko Futarasan Jinja and Rinnoji is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 30 shrines and temples worth knowing in Tochigi.
Nikko Toshogu(Nikko)Shinto shrine / National Treasure / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Northern area / Blessings: victory, good fortune
Craftsmen were gathered from all over Japan to build it, and where they settled afterwards, three crafts were born: Nikko carving in Tochigi, Suruga doll fittings in Shizuoka, and Iwatsuki dolls in Saitama. One great construction project created the crafts of three prefectures.
Nikko Futarasan Jinja(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Shimotsuke Province / Important Cultural Property / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Northern area / Blessings: love and relationships, mountain worship
A shrine of mountain worship with Mount Nantai as its deity, far older than the Toshogu. The mountain was revered first; the shrine to Ieyasu came later. Once you know the order, the mountain looks different.
Rinnoji(Nikko)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The Meiji separation of Shinto and Buddhism split the two apart across most of Japan, but at Nikko shrine and temple remained side by side, and all three are inscribed together as a single World Heritage site.
Utsunomiya Futarayama Jinja(Utsunomiya)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Shimotsuke Province / Central area / Blessings: victory, warding off misfortune
A different shrine from the Futarasan at Nikko, and it too claims to be the first shrine of Shimotsuke Province. The place name Utsunomiya is said to come from the way this shrine was called, Ichinomiya.
Bannaji(Ashikaga)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Historic Site / Southern area / Blessings: study and exams, warding off misfortune
Its main hall is a National Treasure. The residence of the Ashikaga family became a temple as it stood, ringed on all four sides by moat and earthwork. The Ashikaga School next door is held to be the oldest school in Japan.
Oyaji(Utsunomiya)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Historic Site / Central area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its principal image is a cliff Buddha carved directly into the Oya stone. The cave itself serves as the hall.
Yomeimon(Nikko)Shinto shrine / National Treasure / Northern area / Blessings: good fortune
Covered with 508 carvings. Because no one tires of looking, it is also called the gate where the day ends.
Nemuri Neko(Nikko)Shinto shrine / National Treasure / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The carving that guards the way to the inner shrine, attributed to Hidari Jingoro.
Taiyuin(Nikko)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Northern area / Blessings: victory
The mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu. Its colouring was kept more restrained than the Toshogu's, so as not to outdo his grandfather.
Shinkyo(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A vermilion bridge over the Daiya river. Once only the shogun and imperial envoys could cross it.
Tachiki Kannon(Nikko)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A Kannon carved from a living tree, roots still in the ground. Attributed to the monk Shodo.
Chugushi(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: mountain worship
It stands on the shore of Lake Chuzenji and serves as the starting point for the climb up Mount Nantai.
Sanbutsudo(Nikko)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The largest building at Nikko. Its three principal images correspond to the deities of the three Nikko peaks.
Oya Heiwa Kannon(Utsunomiya)Buddhist temple / Central area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A Kannon 27 metres high, carved into the wall of a worked-out Oya stone quarry.
Nasu Yuzen Jinja(Nasu)Shinto shrine / Northern area / Blessings: long life
It stands beside the Sessho-seki, and carries the legend of the nine-tailed fox.
Sessho-seki(Nasu)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Historic Site / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A place where volcanic gas vents. The nine-tailed fox is said to have turned into this rock; Basho came to see it.
Ashikaga Orihime Jinja(Ashikaga)Shinto shrine / Southern area / Blessings: love and relationships, business prosperity
The guardian of a weaving town. A vermilion hall stands at the top of 229 stone steps.
Osaki Jinja(Moka)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Eastern area / Blessings: wealth, business prosperity
It holds what is said to be the largest Ebisu figure in Japan, and draws prayers for wealth.
Sano Yakuyoke Daishi(Sano)Buddhist temple / Southern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
One of the three great Daishi temples of eastern Japan, crowded at new year for prayers against misfortune.
Saimyoji(Mashiko)Buddhist temple / Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, Temple No. 20 / Important Cultural Property / Eastern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its three-storey pagoda and gate are Important Cultural Properties. Known for its laughing Enma.
Okusha(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: victory
Ieyasu's tomb lies at the inner shrine, up 207 stone steps.
Goshinboku(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Northern area / Blessings: love and relationships
A cedar and an oak joined at the root. The Japanese words for the two trees make a pun on staying together.
Sentai Jizo(Nasu)Buddhist temple / Northern area / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
Jizo figures stand in rows on a wasteland of volcanic gas.
Narabi Jizo(Nikko)Buddhist temple / Northern area / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
A line of Jizo said to come out at a different number each time you count. They are called the shape-shifting Jizo.
Yashamon(Nikko)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Four yaksha guard Iemitsu's mausoleum. A carving on one of them is said to be the origin of the Japanese word for kneecap.
Ogoto Jinja(Mibu)Shinto shrine / Central area / Blessings: study and exams
The tutelary shrine of the Mibu domain.
Imamiya Jinja(Kanuma)Shinto shrine / Central area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The float rite of the Kanuma Imamiya Jinja festival is UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Nasu Jinja(Otawara)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: victory
Nasu no Yoichi is said to have prayed here before shooting the fan.
Yakumo Jinja(Nasukarasuyama)Shinto shrine / Eastern area / Blessings: the performing arts, warding off misfortune
The Yamaage rite, in which a huge open-air stage is assembled. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Bakedoro(Nikko)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Northern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A lantern said to shift its shape at night, bearing more than seventy sword cuts.
Sightseeing
Breakdown: historic townscape 2, hot spring 2, nature / scenery 5, industrial heritage 1. 14 places to see in Tochigi.
Kegon no Taki(Nikko)nature / scenery / Northern area / Place of Scenic Beauty
A drop of 97 metres. The monk Shodo is said to have found it, and it served as a place of ascetic practice.
Oya Chika(Utsunomiya)museum / theatre / Central area
A worked-out Oya stone quarry. The sheer size of the underground space is itself the object of awe.
Kegon Falls(Nikko)nature / scenery / Northern area / Place of Scenic Beauty
A drop of 97 metres, one of the three great waterfalls of Japan. The water of Lake Chuzenji falls here.
Kinugawa Onsen(Nikko)hot spring / Northern area / 1691
Inns line the gorge. It was once open only to daimyo and monks.
Lake Chuzenji(Nikko)nature / scenery / Northern area
Formed when an eruption of Mount Nantai dammed the valley. It lies at 1,269 metres.
Oya History Museum(Utsunomiya)industrial heritage / Central area
A vast underground quarry. It averages 8 degrees year round and is used as a film location.
Ashikaga Flower Park(Ashikaga)garden / park / Southern area
A great wisteria 160 years old, known for its evening illumination.
Mashiko Pottery Fair(Mashiko)festival / event / Eastern area / 1966
Five hundred stalls in spring and autumn. The town became known when Hamada Shoji settled here.
Nasu Highland(Nasu)nature / scenery / Northern area
A highland with an imperial villa, looking out on the fumes of Mount Chausu.
Senjogahara(Nikko)nature / scenery / Northern area / Ramsar Wetland / Special Natural Monument / Natural Monument
A marsh where the gods are said to have fought. Boardwalks run across it.
Yumoto Onsen(Nikko)hot spring / Northern area / 788
A sulphur spring said to have been found by the monk Shodo, who opened Nikko.
Utsunomiya Gyoza(Utsunomiya)historic townscape / Central area
Repatriates brought the taste back from Manchuria. The city competes for the top spot in national consumption.
Kura no Machi(Tochigi)historic townscape / Southern area
It prospered on river traffic along the Uzuma. Black-lacquered merchant storehouses line the street.
Kanuma Buttsuke(Kanuma)festival / event / Central area / Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property / UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Carved floats face one another and compete in music, in a contest called buttsuke.
Traditional Crafts
Four crafts hold national designation: Mashiko ware, Yuki pongee, Tenmyo cast metalwork and Nikko carving.
Mashiko ware began as everyday vessels made for shipping to Tokyo. It became known nationally when Hamada Shoji and the mingei movement found it again, as the beauty of the nameless craftsman.
More: VILLAGE Journal vol.39 — Where the word mingei comes from（リンク先は現在公開されていません）
More from This Prefecture
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Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Crop Statistics Survey), Tochigi Prefecture, City of Nikko, Mashiko Town, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village editorial team