探索日本最華麗最精緻的廟宇羣落

To the right of the path, a fast-rushing river, blue and white, sped through a secluded gorge, breaking into rapids over dark rocks and tumbling over the occasional waterfall. To the left, a long line of timeworn Buddhist statues sat with their backs to a steep wooded bank, inviting passers-by to share their contemplation.

道路的右邊，一條湍急的河流帶着藍白色的波浪，飛速流過一處隱祕的峽谷，在暗黑的礁石上撞出破碎的激流，並飛越偶爾形成的瀑布。道路左側，一長串古舊的佛像背靠陡峭而林木茂盛的河堤，吸引過客前去分享自己的沉思冥想。

Someone had been here. Many of the statues were dressed in red knitted hats and cloth bibs, and some held little piles of one-yen coins, left as offerings, in their moss-covered laps (at last! a use for this smallest of small change). But there was no sound other than the river, and no one in sight.

以前一定有人來過。許多雕像都帶着紅色針織帽，身穿棉布罩衣，有的面前還堆着日元硬幣組成的供奉，摞在雕像覆滿青苔的大腿上方（這些最小的零鈔終於有點用處了）。但除了濤聲以外，這裏幾乎沒有任何聲響，也沒用任何人跡。

This serene glen, Kanmangafuchi, which in English goes by the forbidding name of the Kanman Abyss, is in Nikko, the temple town of the great shoguns. Tour buses roll up to Nikko's dazzling shrines — Japan's most lavish and elaborate — and re-enactors stage grand annual processions on its 400-year-old avenues. But Kanmangafuchi, a secondary attraction that doesn't make it onto most day trippers' agendas, is hidden and magical, a key to understanding why the shoguns built their monuments in this place and why Buddhist monks had put down roots hundreds of years earlier. Here, by the Daiya River, it was easy to feel the magnetism of the steep verdant hills, waterfalls, hot springs and volcanic mountains. Throw in a taste for the mystical, and Nikko would be a perfect place to seek enlightenment — or to enshrine yourself as a god.

這座幽靜的峽谷就是日光市(Nikko)的憾滿之淵（Kanmangafuchi，英文名Kanman Abyss）。日光是多位幕府大將軍的神社所在地，旅行巴士爬坡上山，通向那些莊嚴的神廟——它們是日本最華麗最精緻的廟宇，這裏400年的古道上目前正舉辦每年一度的慶典。但憾滿之淵作爲不太熱門的目的地，並沒有成爲一日遊旅行者的常規造訪地點。它位置隱蔽，氛圍奇幻，這也是幕府將軍在這裏建立神社以及佛教僧侶數百年前就在這裏紮根的原因。在大谷川(Daiya River)的河邊，面對瀑布、溫泉、火山和峻峭且佈滿密林的山陵，很容易感受到這裏的魅力。帶有神祕氣質的日光，是尋找心靈覺醒或將自己當神來崇拜的絕佳地點。

An easy two and a half hours north of Tokyo by train, Nikko is a small mountain town at the edges of both a cultural Unesco World Heritage site — the 126-acre Tokugawa shrine complex — and a 443-square-mile natural reserve, Nikko National Park. The combination pulls in Japanese tourists by the millions. Yet relatively few Western travelers seem to be among the crowds, even though the list of those who have made the trip stretches back to Ulysses S. Grant, who arrived in 1879. Those who do come here often sign up for day trips organized by Tokyo-based tour companies, giving them enough time to see some high points of the intricate shrine art and architecture and not much else.

從東京乘坐火車，兩個半小時就能到達日光。這個小巧的山城兩邊都是美景，一邊是聯合教科文組織認可的文化遺產、面積126英畝的德川家族神社(Tokugawa shrine)，另一邊是443平方英里的自然保護區日光國家公園(Nikko National Park)。這種組合吸引了大量的日本旅行者。但西方遊客相對較少。在來過這裏的爲數不多的西方人中，最早的一位是1879年造訪此地的尤里西斯.S.格蘭特(Ulysses S. Grant)。現在來日光的遊客，大都選擇參加東京出發的一日遊旅行圖。一天的時間足夠欣賞神社的精美藝術和建築，但沒有時間探索別的東西。

My first trip to Nikko, 20 years ago, was in winter, when the clear mountain air was crisp and new snow dusted the emerald branches of the 100-foot-tall cedar trees. Against that backdrop, the brilliant red lacquer facade of Rinnoji, the central Buddhist temple, made an unforgettable picture — almost as vivid in memory as the shocking chill of an unheated wooden floor on feet covered in thin socks (since, of course, shoes must be removed before going in to bow before the 28-foot-gilded statues of Buddha and Kannon).

我第一次造訪日光是20年以前的事了。那時正值冬天，山區的空氣冷冽清新，新雪點綴着高達100英尺的墨綠色雪松。有亮紅色塗漆外牆的輪王寺襯着這樣的背景，形成一幅難忘的畫面。這幅畫面的衝擊力，與穿着薄襪踩在冰涼木地板的感覺一樣令人多年難忘（遊客必須脫掉鞋子才能進入寺廟，並在28英尺高的佛陀和觀音面前鞠躬）。

On a recent fall visit, I walked uphill toward the shrines on ancient stone steps, full of anticipation, and was hit by a jolt of surprise. At the top, I found myself looking not at the three-story-high Rinnoji temple, but at a full-scale painting of it on a giant white plastic wrapper. The temple was Inside, undergoing restoration in a project that began in 2007 and will move from structure to structure around the treasures of Nikko until 2021.

在最近的一次秋季重遊中，我沿着古老的石階上山，心中對山路盡頭的神社充滿期待。但到達山頂的時候，我發現眼前不是三層樓高的輪王寺，而是它真實尺寸大小的一張照片，後面是一團巨大的白色塑料。真實的寺廟裹在塑料中，正在進行翻新。這次翻新工程從2007年開始，預計2021年結束，該工程會將日光市的所有景點都逐個修葺一新。

The restoration is not shutting down Nikko, I soon learned, or even this one temple. People were going up the still-exposed front steps and disappearing behind the wrapper, so I followed. Inside, one of the three tall statues of gods was missing, but the thousand-armed Senju-Kannon and the double-headed Bato-Kannon (a horse's head is atop its human one) were there and as inscrutable as ever. For the full effect, it's essential to walk as close to them as possible and look up. Their astonishingly lifelike eyes will look directly down into yours, not exactly menacing and not really friendly either, prompting thoughts about exactly what their intentions might be for your future.

但我很快發現，這次翻新並沒有阻擋遊客對日光市甚至這座寺廟的熱情。人們來到仍然開放的廟前階梯，然後消失在塑料包裝的內部，我也跟着他們照做了。裏面的三座大型神像少了一座，但千手觀音和馬頭觀音（人類腦袋上方有個馬頭）還在，依然和往日一樣神祕莫測。爲了更好地感受這種氛圍，請務必走到神像跟前並擡頭仰望。他們生動逼真的目光會直接進入你的靈魂，既不兇惡也不溫柔，但發人深省，你會忍不住思考他們的目光對你的未來到底意味着什麼。

Nikko's shrines and temples, as they now appear, date to the 1600s, when the Tokugawa shogun Ieyasu decided Nikko was the right spot for his mausoleum, signifying his ascension after death to godly status (as planned, he was posthumously named a Buddhist deity). However infLated his self-esteem, Ieyasu was no run-of-the-mill warlord. Defeating rivals in battle, he unified Japan under his rule in 1600, and the country never fractured again. He also moved the capital from Kyoto, leaving the powerless emperor behind, to the coastal town that he called Edo and that is now Tokyo, setting up a court there that quickly transformed the town from a tiny fishing village into a metropolis. Later in that same century, another Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu, assembled the country's greatest artisans and finest materials, commanded an outpouring of cash from the cowed nobility and did more building at Nikko.

根據建築上的標識，日光的神社和寺院建於1600年代，那時候德川幕府(Tokugawa)的家康(Ieyasu)決定在日光建造自己的家廟，暗示着他死後將昇天變成神佛（他死後，人們確實根據他的計劃將他命名爲一個佛教神祇）。儘管德川家康非常自負，但他並不是個普通的軍閥。1600年，他打敗諸多敵手，將整個日本置於自己的統治之下，從那以後日本再也沒有分裂。他還將首都從京都搬到了當時的江戶（Edo，即現在的東京），將毫無實權的天皇拋在身後。他在江戶設立朝廷，並迅速將它從小漁村建成一個大都市。後來，另一個德川家族的將軍家光(Ieyasu)，也即德川家康的孫子，集中全國最好的工匠和最好的材料，脅迫貴族們出錢，在日光修建了許多建築。

The two Tokugawas left behind enough artistry to occupy an admirer for days, and I found most of it on view with little intrusion from the restoration.

德川家這兩位將軍留下來的藝術品足夠遊客用幾天的時間來欣賞，而且我發現幾乎開放遊覽的作品都沒有因翻新而遭到破壞。

There's a large Shinto shrine to the god of nearby Mount Nantai (shoes off, please, to go inside); ornate gates and big, scary statues guarding flights of steps up to the mausoleums of both grandfather and grandson; a walkway flanked by 100 large stone lanterns; a five-story pagoda; even a "sacred stable." Anyone looking for the familiar spare Japanese aesthetic will be disappointed. Elaborate, Chinese-influenced decoration is everywhere: gilding, metal work and, especially, intricate wood carving. It was the style of the time, a sort of Japanese Baroque, and Nikko is its highest expression.

那裏有座巨大的神社，供奉的是附近男體山(Mount Nantai)的神靈（進入神社前請脫鞋）；華麗的大門之後，兩側樹有威嚴雕像的石階通向德川家祖孫倆的陵墓。走道兩邊有100多個大型石燈籠、一座五層高的寶塔，甚至還有一個“聖廄”。任何試圖尋找常規日式審美的人都會失望。到處都是精雕細琢、明顯受中國影響的裝飾：鍍金、金屬物件，尤其是工不厭精的木雕。這正是當時的藝術風格，相當於日本的巴洛克，而日光的藝術品是這種風格的極致體現。

Isabella Bird, the Victorian travel writer whose books kept her English audience rapt, wrote in "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan": "The wood-carving needs weeks of earnest work for the mastery of its ideas and details." I didn't want to stay that long, but I understood her reaction. The carving is in 3-D: brightly painted wooden friezes of flowers and plants; cranes, peacocks, dragons, elephants; and the Three Wise Monkeys (See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil), a charming and famous piece that everyone stopped to gawk at. A group of 9- or 10-year-old schoolchildren with bright yellow hats (billed caps for the boys and small rain hats for the girls) were especially appreciative but seemed to have even more fun running up and down the moss-edged steps where their handlers soon led them.

英國維多利亞時代的旅行作家伊莎貝拉·伯德(Isabella Bird)曾以自己的遊記作品讓許多英國讀者如癡如醉。她在《日本少有人走的路》(Unbeaten Tracks in Japan)中寫道：“製作一件木雕需要好幾個星期的專注工作，以及對主題和細節的深刻把握。”我不想在這裏停留太久，但我非常理解她的反應。木雕都是立體的：塗了鮮豔油漆的木頭，雕成各種形狀：花朵、植物；仙鶴、孔雀、游龍、大象；還有《三隻靈猴》（分別代表非禮勿視、非禮勿聽和非禮勿言）。這件藝術品非常漂亮，幾乎每個遊客都會停下來仔細觀看，一羣10來歲學生組成的旅行團戴着明黃色的帽子（男生戴鴨舌帽，女生戴小型雨帽）對此尤爲感興趣。當然，當領隊將他們帶到生有綠苔的石階時，他們對於在臺階上跑上跑下表現出了更多的熱情。

Nikko is a great place for exercise. On this trip I walked all day for two days, exploring museums, gardens and a downtown with souvenir shops and a public hot-spring bathhouse. (Buses are available for those who want to walk less.) Like everyone else, I took pictures of the crescent-shaped red Sacred Bridge over the Daiya River that is Nikko's signature image.

日光是健身的好地方。這趟旅行，我連續兩天都在奔走，探索了多家博物館、花園、市區幾家紀念品商店和一家公共溫泉浴場。（不希望整日步行的人可乘坐公共汽車）像其他人一樣，我特意拍攝了日光的地標景點，大谷川上硃紅色的彎月形神橋(Sacred Bridge)。

I wandered in the tatami maze of the sprawling 100-room Japanese-style Imperial Villa, now a museum, where Akihito, Japan's current emperor, was sent for safety by his father, Hirohito, during World War II. You can see the entrance to a bomb shelter in the gorgeous garden. (It wasn't needed. Nikko and its treasures were never bombed.) The villa, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is near the Kanman Abyss, and the emperor Taisho, Akihito's grandfather, wrote a stylized poem about walking there and getting his sleeves wet from the rapids' spray. The poem is inscribed on a stone monument at the gorge, one of several such literary monuments in Nikko.

我在田母沢御用邸複雜的榻榻米迷宮裏徜徉。田母沢御用邸面積龐大，有100多個房間，以前是天皇的離宮，現在變成了博物館。“二戰”的時候，裕仁天皇(Hirohito)出於安全原因，曾將皇子、當今的明仁天皇(Akihito)送到這裏居住。優雅的花園裏，可以看到一扇通往防空洞的大門。（這裏當年並沒有派上用場，日光及其珍貴的文化珍寶在戰爭中完好無損）田母沢御用邸建於19世紀末20世紀初，緊鄰憾滿之淵，明仁天皇的祖父大正天皇(Taisho)曾寫過一首優美的詩歌，描述了在這裏散步時衣袖被激流打溼的感覺。詩歌現在刻在峽谷裏的某個石碑上，這樣充滿文化意味的石碑在日光有好幾座。

Outside town is another experience, accessible by bus. A corkscrew of a road leads up to the alpine Lake Chuzenji and the high Kegon waterfall; along the way, monkeys inured to the slow-moving traffic sit in trees or run along the road, hoping to score a handout. And then there are the hot springs. In Japan, Nikko is almost as renowned for its nearby hot-springs resorts as for its shrine.

坐公交走出市區，會有另一種體驗。曲折的盤山公路，會將人帶到高山湖泊中禪寺湖(Chuzenji)和落差很大的華嚴瀑布(Kegon waterfall)。山路兩邊，已經習慣緩慢車流的猴子要麼坐在樹上觀望，要麼跑到馬路上試圖捕獲遊客分發的零食。然後是溫泉。在日本，日光溫泉幾乎與那裏的神社一樣著名。

I stayed close to the shrine and retired at night to the Kanaya Hotel, an old European-style place where expats and diplomats took holidays from steamy Tokyo in the days before air-conditioning. The list of guests includes Eleanor Roosevelt, Indira Gandhi and Frank Lloyd Wright. When Ms. Bird stayed there in 1878, the building was a small guesthouse and the host was the original Mr. Kanaya. "I almost wish that the rooms were a little less exquisite," Bird wrote, "for I am in constant dread of spilling the ink, indenting the mats, or tearing the paper windows."

我下榻於靠近神社的金谷酒店(Kanaya Hotel)，一處古老的歐洲風格建築。在空調發明之前，許多外國人和外交官都在夏天逃離溼熱的東京，來此地避暑。曾經入住的名人包括埃莉諾·羅斯福(Eleanor Roosevelt)、英迪拉·甘地(Indira Gandhi)和弗蘭克·勞埃德·懷特(Frank Lloyd Wright)。伯德女士1878年入住時，它還是個小客棧，主人是當地人金谷先生。“我幾乎希望這裏的客房沒那麼精緻，”伯德寫道，“因爲我不斷地擔心自己打翻墨水、損壞地毯或撕破窗紙。”

Today's incarnation falls short of the "Japanese idyll" she described, but it is lovely, historical and beautifully situated on a slope almost directly above the Sacred Bridge. I found the Kanaya relentlessly European, but with a Japanese twist. The high-ceilinged corridors and my huge room, with an antique desk and view of a garden and a mountain peak, made me think of the fine old inns that still survive in the American Northeast. But here there were yukatas, the cotton kimonos for lounging that are common in Japan, laid out for the guests. Service was delicate and perfect, in the best Japanese style.

今天的金谷酒店已經不是她筆下的那個“日式田園詩”，而是優雅端莊、歷史感十足，坐落在神橋幾乎正上方的山坡上。我發現，金谷酒店非常歐化，但多少帶着日本氣息。我的客房面積闊大，走道有着高挑的天花板，但寫字桌是古典式樣，窗外可以看到花園和山峯，讓我想起美國東北地區仍然活躍的古雅客棧。但這裏還有供客人使用的和式浴衣——那是一種棉布製成的和服，適合居家穿着，在日本非常普遍。酒店的服務非常用心，堪稱完美，一流的日本水平。

Dinner at the restaurant was a white-tablecloth and French-wine affair with steak on the menu and a "Downton Abbey"-worthy array of silverware at each place setting. Although the staff and all the other diners were Asian, there wasn't a chopstick in sight. Here, I thought, if anywhere in rural Japan, I might have a chance of getting a cup of decaf coffee after dinner. But the waitress, an older woman in a neat black dress who had up to this time anticipated my every desire, told me apologetically that there was none, and when I refused tea as a substitute, seemed genuinely stricken.

晚餐是在一家鋪着雪白桌布、菜單上有法國美酒和牛排、每張餐桌上都擺着《唐頓莊園》(Downton Abbey)裏那種純銀餐具的餐廳。儘管服務員和其他客人都是亞洲面孔，視野裏卻沒有一根筷子。我覺得，唯一讓這裏感覺是日本鄉村的是這樣一件小事：餐後我想要一杯無咖啡因的咖啡。但服務員——一位身着優雅黑裙、年紀較長、一直在耐心滿足我所有要求的女子，卻滿含歉意地說，這裏沒有無咖啡因的咖啡。當我拒絕了她以茶代替的建議時，她臉上頓時充滿震驚。

I assured her that I could make do with water. But in a few minutes she reappeared, looking hopeful, with an offer: Could I take instant? I could. It arrived grandly — shining crystals in a stemware dessert glass — and proved to be the best instant coffee I had ever tasted. I smiled, she smiled, and all was well.

我對她說，給我一杯白水來也行。但幾分鐘之後，她重新出現在我面前，臉上充滿希望地問：“速溶咖啡可以嗎？”我說可以。這杯咖啡來得非常高貴：一隻裝甜點用的玻璃高腳杯裏，咖啡閃着水晶般的光芒。這是我喝過的最純美的速溶咖啡。我微笑起來，她也笑起來，萬事萬物如此美好。

IF YOU GO

實用信息

In Tokyo, get advice on touring the Nikko area from English speakers at the Tourist Information Center (TIC) in the Shin Tokyo Building in Marunouchi, 81-3-3201-3331; .

東京的旅遊信息中心(Tourist Information Center; TIC) 有講英語的工作人員，可提供日光旅遊的建議。地址是丸之內(Marunouchi)街區的Shin Tokyo Building大廈。81-3-3201-3331；。

The privately owned Tobu train (81-3-3841-2871; ), the easiest way to Nikko, leaves from the Tobu Asakusa Station, across the street from Tokyo's Asakusa municipal transit station. In Nikko, the Sacred Bridge and other tourist sites are within walking distance of the Tobu station; a bus makes regular circuits.

私人運營的東武火車（Tobu train; 81-3-3841-2871; ）是去往日光最便捷的交通方式。起點是東武淺草站(Tobu Asakusa Station)，在東京淺草市區中轉站的對面。東武火車在日光的站點距離神橋和其他景點都是步行可達。日光市內的交通可採用公共汽車。

The Two-Day Nikko Pass, available at the Tobu Station for 2,600 yen (about $26), covers round-trip train fare and buses in Nikko. Admission to the main Nikko temple and shrine is 2,200 yen. Small fees, 100 to 500 yen, are charged to enter some ancillary areas and museums. The shrine and temple complex is open daily year-round.

日光兩日通票(Two-Day Nikko Pass)可在東武火車站購買，價格2600日元（約26美元），包括日光往返東京的雙程火車票和日光公交車票。日光主要寺廟和神社的門票是2200日元。進入周邊次要景點和博物館時，可能需要支付100至500日元的小額費用。所有神社和寺院都全年每日開放。

Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa (81-2-8853-6767; ) and its garden are open daily year-round except on Tuesdays and holidays. Admission is 500 yen.

日光田母沢御用邸(Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa; 81-2-8853-6767; )除了週二和節假日以外，全年每日開放。門票500日元。

To reach the Kanman Abyss from the Imperial Villa, exit from the garden to the side street, walk downhill and turn left. Take the first right onto a tiny street, turn right at the end and walk to the road bridge across the Daiya River. Cross it, turn right and follow the street along the river, heading upstream, through a small neighborhood. The trailhead is off a parking lot at the end.

若想從田母沢御用邸去憾滿之淵(Kanman Abyss)，從花園走出，到達旁邊的街道。接着步行下山，然後左轉。接下來，第一個路口右轉，走入一條小街，到盡頭的時候右轉，然後走向橫跨大谷川的那座路橋。走到河對面，右轉，沿着河邊的街道向上遊走去，走過一小片居住區。步道終點的旁邊是個停車場。

The Nikko Kanaya Hotel (81-2-8854-0001; ) is reached from the Tobu station by an uphill driveway off Nikko's main street spine just before the Sacred Bridge. Prices vary by season; doubles from 17,325 yen.

日光金谷酒店(Nikko Kanaya Hotel (81-2-8854-0001; )距離東武火車站不遠。從日光的主幹道出發，沿着一條上坡路走到神橋面前即可。房間價格因季節而異。雙人房17325日元起。