There are more than 500 sculptures on the Yomeimon Gate from the Toshougu Shrine in Nikko, some representing imaginary animals, others illustrating old legends.

For me, the most interesting of them is the group of over 20 sculptures titled “Children and Ieyasu", representing children playing. Searching for their meaning, I learned that the group represents an artistic representation of the will of the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, his desire for a future peaceful society: “Go for the right way and build a foundation of peace”.

Here is one of these sculptures, titled “A child tries to break the snowman down. Another child starts crying"…

Yomeimon Gate, Toshougu Shrine, Nikko

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Big Box Takadanobaba night view