日光东正谷体验
Text by student Trinket Guth
Toshogu Shrine is incredibly beautiful. I genuinely have no words to describe the art that covers every inch of the place, 精致的木雕, 到巨大的石头灯笼, to a massive lantern that can rotate when filled with candles. When we went it was, justifiably, filled with tourists. There were travelers from all over the world, including those local to 日本. The site seemed a particularly popular destination for 日本ese field trips, given the number of children dressed in uniform being corralled into groups.
The massive, noisy crowds made me think hard about the commodification of 日本ese culture. Shrines are meant to be holy places, but the traditional purification fountain at the shrine was blocked off. 东正神社, and the shrines and temples surrounding it, were likely sites of holy pilgrimages at one time, and now they are just another place on the checklist of “things to see when you visit 日本.” I think about the monks who watch over the religious practices in the area, and I wonder what they think about the massive tourism from both locals and foreigners. Are they simply happy for the tourism money that helps with upkeeping the area, along with the money that visitors spend on local restaurants and shops? Or do they mourn the loss of tranquility that exists at many other shrines and temples, 即使在东京? It was wonderful to see an Unesco World Heritage site, but part of me wishes that I could've seen the Nikko Toshogu Shrine as the holy site it was designed to be, not the tourist destination it has become.
克里斯蒂·赫伯特摄.
