Shrines....and Piglets

Last weekend Rick, Jonathan, and I went to Nikko to see some of the Shinto Shrines. It poured buckets of rain the entire day and I was soaked from the knees down but it was still pretty fun.

Many of the archways are painted red or decorated with gold. Even some pillars are wrapped in glass because they are made of real gold.

Like I said, it rained buckets.

The unique piece about these shrines is that they remain in the old Chinese style from the previous occupancy of the Chinese in Japan. Some have remained the same for more than 400 years. 

There were a few unique fixtures in the park. One was a candelabra and the other was a lamp. 

Have you ever heard of the phrase, "Hear no, Speak no, See no Evil"? Well it originated right here at this Nikko Shrine.  There are many frames of the three monkeys around this Shrine and each one describes different phase of life. This set is meant to describe how parents should protect their children from the evils of the world. Who knew there were so many people reciting Shinto Theology?

These are 6 of the piglets that were born within the last few hours. Many more will come throughout the evening. The momma sow must remain on the other side of this gate so she doesn't accidently kill one of her piglets by laying on it. The last sow had 21 piglets but the usual number is between 12 and 18. I'll try to get some more pictures of them as they grow.