Winter Trip to Nikko Part 9 (Final): 3rd Day Digest (Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art and Matsuyashiki etc.)

[Introduction]

I traveled to Nikko (日光) for three days and two nights in the middle of February for the first time in five years. Visiting Nikko in winter would be a good choice, since there are less tourists compared to other seasons (summer and autumn) and visitors are able to enjoy snow scenery. In this article, I will write about the third day (last day) of Nikko trip in digest.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Nikko Station
* Day 1: SL Taiju
* Day 1: Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji
* Day 1-2: Nikko Station (Light-up) and Nikko Station Hotel Classic
* Day 2: Shinkyo Bridge and Nikkosan Rinno-Ji Temple
* Day 2: Nikko Toshogu Shrine
* Day 2: Futarasan-Jinja Shrine, Taiyuin Nikkosan Rinno-Ji Temple and Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park
* Day 2-3: Nikko Kanaya Hotel
* Day 3: Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art and Matsuyashiki [This article]

[Travel Date]
2018.02.18-20

[Main Part]

Snaps around Nikko Kanaya Hotel

Following the previous post, I checked out Nikko Kanaya Hotel and walked around the hotel.

This impressive building was Nikko Shinko Church.

Nearby was the World Heritage “Shrines and Temples of Nikko”, so there were lots of souvenir shops and restaurants around here.

You can see Nikko Kanaya Hotel over there.

Before the trip, I anticipated that it might snow as it was in February, but as a result, it was almost sunny during the trip.

Shinkyo Bridge, which I visited on the second day (see the related article).

When thinking of Nikko, the spot that comes to my mind first is Shinkyo Bridge.

Yuba (tofu skin) Lunch at Aburagen

Now I will have a lunch. I visited “Aburagen” for lunch, which was located near Shinkyo Bridge.

“Aburagen” was opened in 1859 as a souvenir shop and now sells food and serves lunch.

In the shop.

I had yuba (tofu skin) cuisine, a local favorite in Nikko.

Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art

After lunch, I visited “Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art”.

Hoan Kosugi was an Western-style painter during Meiji, Taisho and Showa era. In 1997, a municipal museum was opened as “Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art” in Nikko where he was born.

Here are exterior of the museum.

I will go into the museum.

It was a near-futuristic interior, wasn’t it?

I looked through the gallery, but basically it was not allowed to take photos, so that’s all.

Matsuyashiki

I will move to the next destination.

I was so lucky as to encounter such a magnificent view.

Snow remained relatively, as I walked through a street with less people.

I arrived at Matsuyashiki.

Matsuyashiki was originally built about 100 years ago by Shin-ichi Kanaya, 2nd representative director of Kanaya Hotel, so that his sickly daughter could heal herself at home. Then, the house had been unoccupied for a certain period, but the current owner renovated it and has had its garden open to the public for specified periods.

The open period of this year was not disclosed when I traveled to Nikko in February. So I made an inquiry via its official website and they kindly accepted my visit, though Matsuyashiki is usually not open to the public in winter.

I will walk around the garden.

Below was Nikko Municipal Elementary School.

There was a hydroelectric power plant site.

It was in operation between 1909 – 1950 and electricity was supplied for Kanaya Hotel.

According to the current owner and the manager, visitors are able enjoy autumn color of leaves in the garden in autumn. If you are interested in Matsuyashiki, please check its website.

Return Home

Now the trip was coming to an end. I picked up my luggage at Nikko Kanaya Hotel where I stayed.

There was “Kanaya Hotel Gallery”, which I missed, so I stopped by it.

Finally, I took a picture of Nikko Nakaya Hotel and left the hotel.

Before I went back to home, I dropped by a house of my relative who operates Nikkobori (Nikko Carving) shop.

As I mentioned in the previous article, I have several relatives who live in Nikko and one of them works for Nikko Kanaya Hotel. Then, he told his sister that I was in Nikko, so I changed my plan and visited her house. We rarely meet each other since we live separately between Tokyo and Nikko, so it was a good opportunity to see each other again.

Then, I moved to Tobu Nikko station to return home.

This was the new limited express train “Revaty”.

Here is “Nikko 8”, another limited express train. I am going to ride it.

In the train.

I had “fried yuba (tofu skin) manju (bread)”, which I bought at a souvenir shop near the station, and went back home.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about the third day (last day) of Nikko trip in digest.

To summarize the Nikko trip, I was surprised to see there were so many foreign tourists. I saw lots of foreign tourists when I traveled to Kyoto and Hokkaido, but the ratio of foreign visitors among all visitors might be the most in Nikko. Actually, I heard the Ritz-Carlton is going to open its hotel in Nikko (at Lake Chuzenji) in July 2020 when the Tokyo Olympic Games is held. I would like to visit Nikko again at that time 🙂

Now my Nikko trip series with 9 articles was completed. Thank you for reading my blog.

Regarding my next trip, I have already arranged it. However, I will post an article before the next trip, as there is an important announcement!?

[Map]

1 Nikko Kanaya Hotel
2 Nikko Shinko Church
3 Shinkyo Bridge
4 Aburagen
5 Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art
6 Matsuyashiki
7 Tobu Nikko Station

[Related Link]
Nikko Kinugawa Travel Guide
Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art
Matsuyashiki

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