Full-day tour from Tokyo: Nikko Toshogu Shrine & Kegon Waterfall
Last updated: August 26, 2026
Nikko's sacred mountains in one day from Tokyo: the sacred red arc of Shinkyo Bridge opens the route, then Toshogu Shrine — the gilded, carving-crusted World Heritage mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the shogunate that shaped Japan for 250 years. The afternoon climbs to the highlands for Kegon Falls, a 97-metre column counted among Japan's three great waterfalls, and Lake Chuzenji, whose still water mirrors the volcano Mount Nantai. It's the classic first taste of Nikko, connections handled for you.
Itinerary
Departure
- Start point: SMBC Shinjuku West Exit Branch
- Stop at: Shinkyo Bridge
- Stop at: Nikko Toshogu Shrine
- Stop at: Kegon Falls
- Stop at: Lake Chuzenji
- Stop at: Tohoku Expressway
- Stop at: Shinjuku (Kabukicho)
Frequently Asked Questions
It is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who unified Japan, and nothing about it is restrained: over five hundred carvings crowd its lacquered buildings, including the three wise monkeys and the sleeping cat, with the Yomeimon gate so ornate it's nicknamed the "gate you could stare at until sunset". The whole complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The falls drop 97 metres in a single column — water from Lake Chuzenji funnelled over a wall of old lava, which is what created the waterfall when eruptions of Mount Nantai rerouted the Daiya River. It stands with Nachi and Fukuroda among Japan's three most celebrated waterfalls.
Autumn is the marquee act — the Irohazaka switchbacks up to Lake Chuzenji are one of Japan's most famous foliage drives, at their best from mid-October to early November — but fresh green early summer and snow-edged winter views of the falls both reward the trip. Book autumn early; all of Kanto has the same idea.
The vermilion 'sacred bridge' arching over the Daiya River at the entrance to Nikko's shrine precinct — by legend the spot where the monk Shodo crossed on the backs of two serpents to open these mountains. It makes the definitive first photograph of the day.