Samurai Cryptography Spiritual Concierges - Nikko Revisited

As an amateur historian, I always love a good enigma, and in Japan, we don’t have dozens, not even hundreds; we have an infinity. The English language can be limited and is mostly straight to the point; in stark contrast, Japanese Kanji writing often holds secrets, hidden meanings, and clues that about 97% of the Japanese population lack the interest to investigate. The lack of interest in exploring historically significant events and treasure hunting extends beyond the borders of Japan and is a global phenomenon. In general, the armchair adventurer’s introduction is via the History Channel, Discovery Channel, or a NatGeo history special, but they quickly forget and wait for the next historical tidbit to be featured. A television has not been a fixture in my home since my teenage years, and I’ve always been intellectually curious about truths; and love expeditions, especially when the area is a repository of literature, historical treasures, and a spiritual guardian protected power vortex. “You can always count me in on that type of adventure, or wildlife adventures, such as my annual Hokkaido photography workshop tour.” Ancient traditional Japanese Kanji characters can be mind-boggling to understand, and there are said to be more than 50,000. In Japanese education, there are roughly 2,000 characters that are taught in compulsory education. University professors and well-read people can recognize about 5,500. The remaining 45,000+ Japanese Kanji characters are where Shinto priests, Buddhist monks, historians, and linguists are needed to interpret the potential meanings.

The Last Samurai of Japan

The last days of the Samurai of Japan. This image was not taken in Nikko, but in Satsuma, but they were fighting to keep Nikko and the Samurai culture alive. Many castles were demolished by the Meiji emperor, and there was talk of demolishing Nikko.

Nikko Toshogu Shrine

Nikko UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is the main Shinto shrine structure in Nikko, and is the most elaborate decorative Samurai era structure our workshop leader has come across in all his years and travels throughout Japan.

Nikko Toshugu Main Shinto Shrine - UNESCO World Heritage Site

The wood carving on the main Shinto shrine complex building in Nikko is stunning. The detail is truly remarkable, as are the statues, roof style, and the amount of precious metals used in its construction.

I have briefly mentioned Nikko and The Yomeimon Gate in previous articles, as they are some of the most important samurai lineage shogun sites in all of Japan, but in 1867, the unworldly Meiji Emperor sought to strip away all the power and majesty that the samurai and their lineage held. This power grab is known as the Meiji Restoration. Each era in Japan is named after the emperor and runs concurrently with his reign. The Meiji Era started in 1867 and ran until 1912. The Tokugawa bakufu, the military government that brought Japan 500 years of peace and stability, was now gone like the perfect cherry blossoms fluttering in the wind, but honor and truth will always prevail in the pages of history, and the samurai will never be forgotten; their stories will be told for all time. The emperor was now more than just a title. This was all done to ‘modernize’ Japan to fit more with the western conceptions of what a contemporary society should look like. Across Nippon, castles were destroyed, and lynchpin edifices of modern Japan such as Tokyo Station were undertaken only finished two years after the Meiji Era ended. During the first moments of the Meiji Era, katanas were outlawed, military personnel adopted firearms, western-style facial hair such as beards became common, and samurai top knots, symbols of their status were cut off, at times in a public setting to further embarrass the samurai into a forced submission and drive home the point that Japan was moving headlong into modern society. One scene from the movie, The Last Samurai, in which a close friend played a key role, has a scene that was taken from the pages of history where imperial law enforcers dragged a non-compliant samurai into the middle of a town square and savagely cut off his top knot for everyone to see. To protect the samurai heritage, Shinto Priests and Buddhist Monks hid away heirlooms, treasures, samurai swords, and other valuables tied to samurai clans all over the country, protecting them from the Emperor’s Meiji Era laws.

Yomeimon Gate is The Main Gate In Nikko World Heritage Site

The Yomeimon gate is stunning. There are over 500 carving of dragons and other mystical beings known as Reiji holy spiritual animals. The gate is known as the Main Gate of the Imperial Court. It also said to contain several ciphers.

Nikko UNESCO World Heritage Site

There are dozens of scenes like this around Nikko. They seem randomly placed, but they are astrologically positioned. You would be hard pressed to find anything that is not properly placed in Nikko.

Nikko UNESCO World Heritage Site Japan

Randomly placed so it seems, but they are astrologically placed, or strategically, similar to pieces on a chessboard. And once you dive into the world of mystical Japan, you start to realize many of these are a cypher.

Bushido is the Samurai’s law and way of life, and honor is everything. In other cultures, it is called chivalry, but in Japan, it is known as Bushido. For the samurai, it is a code of honor, and moral principles, and a code that is unspoken and unwritten, influenced by the teachings of Zen Buddhism, the Hagakure, and youngsters were taught the art of Bushido from birth by their family and community. No other weapons are as synonymous with the way of the samurai as their katana and wakizashi. One katana, in particular, forged in fire with the samurai spirit by master swordsmith Masamune Goro (1264-1343), is the source of legends, mystery, and samurai folklore. By the age of 23, Masamune Goro Nyudo was appointed Emperor Fushimi’s personal swordsmith. Japan’s master sword makers knew the art of using steel versus iron. Creating tools and swords from iron was commonplace, while hardened steel from a carbon and iron alloy created a superiorly strong tool wielded by the samurai. Masamune used a revolutionary technique of using only steel at high temperatures, fusing soft and hard steel to create samurai swords with tens of thousands of layers. His techniques improved the durability of his blades while also keeping them lightweight so samurai could readily and easily wield them on horseback. Samurai craved to attain such ultimate weapons and sought the most renowned master metallurgist to forge katanas, their long sword, and wakizashi, their short sword, and body armor that one could claim victory by their fierce presence alone.

Samurai katanas from workshop leader's private collection

One of these Samurai Swords can never leave Japan, as it is a National Treasure. And the Samurai who owned it used it in battle and wore it in Nikko.

UNESCO Nikko Word Heritage Site Japan

In the first image are Samurai Swords and one of them passed through this entrance way to the main shinto shrine in Nikko. Our workshop leader has given serious consideration to donating it to a museum, maybe one day.

One of Masamune’s swords, the Honjo Masamune, was given its name from its samurai owner, Honjo Shigenaga, a samurai general who used the sword more than 200 years after it was initially forged. In the battle at Kawanakajima in 1561, Honjo Shigenaga was engaged in a fierce battle with a samurai of equal rank. After a skillful strike with his opponent’s sword, Shigenaga’s helmet was cleaved in two and fell to his feet. Rather than freezing at the unbridled power and skill of his opponent, without hesitation, Shigenaga harnessed the power of his Masamune sword, and his retaliatory strike ended the conflict, ultimately leading to victory. The legendary katana would eventually be passed on to the Tokugawa family, which ruled Japan and had done so for more than 260 years until it was allegedly surrendered by Tokugawa Iemasa, the head of the Tokugawa family, to authorities as part of the armistice concerning Japan, America, and other nations that all weapons must be given up in the year 1945. Shinto priests, Buddhist monks, and other concerned citizens stepped in on behalf of Japan’s noble samurai lineage. They stowed away heirlooms, treasures, samurai swords, and other valuables, just as they had during the Meiji Era. Consequently, the compliance of the Japanese with the armistice was well below 50%, maybe even as low as 20%. The sword is believed to have been on a ship in the Pacific Ocean headed for North America, but it never reached its destination, and it has never been seen since.

A group of the last Samurai, Nagasaki, Japan

One of the last images taken of Authentic Samurai, weeks after this image was taken, Samurai topknots were cut off, in public displays, and sword wearing was outlawed, as were the Samurai.

A Samurai in True Form

One of the last Samurai to wear authentic Samurai battle armor, and wield a Samurai Katana. This image was said to have been taken just before a battle in southern Japan.

While researching in Nikko, I came across documentation related to a priest accepting a Masamune sword from the 1940s, which synced with the timeline of the Honjo Masamune sword, but once the resident priests saw the head priest had entered the study with me and documents on display, the priest quickly shuffled the sword related documents underneath the original blueprints for the building of the Toshogu main shrine, and the priest quietly uttered, “Return when the head priest isn’t here.” With a knowing nod from him, I exited the study, snapped a few more photos around the temple, and rejoined my team in the main hall to take our leave. There are treasures that carry certain symbols, just like the Japanese language itself, to be discovered in Nikko, and I look forward to my next opportunity to dig deeper into the legendary Japanese samurai sword once social distancing has subsided. This is one of the reasons I start my days in Nikko in the blue hour because I need to be at specific samurai-commissioned structures as the sun touches them, as some are rumored to possibly be functioning as a cipher to interpret historical messages left by individuals who belong to the samurai elite. These men were in charge of constructing these UNESCO World Heritage temples, shrines, historical monuments, torii gates in Nikko and Japan. It’s nice to have friends who are willing to provide me access to national treasures such as paintings, scrolls, Shinto/Buddhist artifacts, samurai-constructed blueprints, and others. The kanji on some of the older pieces of text takes so much time and effort to accurately translate that I sometimes have to wait a month or even longer for a sentence of the text. Most of the time, I find myself at the entrance of a rabbit hole, but I love the chase, and I’ll continue to do it.

Edo Era books of Katanas

While researching the archives in Nikko, our workshop leader has come across dozens of books similar to these ones, but one stood out, as it read in English, Masamune Sword. A very strange find indeed, and one he wishes to explore in the future.

Recently, I came across an article in the Asahi Shimbun titled, “Original letter from warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi found in Kyoto” by the staff writer Yukiko Kitamura. I immediately took issue with the characterization of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. He was the most powerful person in Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1574-1600) and held the title Taiko, or prime minister, of Japan. He was bestowed the title Taiko by the emperor when he unified Japan. He was not given the title shogun because of his family lineage. That is why the Battle of Sekigahara occurred on October 21, 1600. If the emperor had bestowed Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the title shogun, his family would have been in full control of Japan for years to come, as was the Tokugawa bakufu. One of the more significant disagreements I had related to Japanese history, specifically samurai and Hideyoshi Toyotomi, was when I was on a scouting trip at Tsuruga-jo (Aizu castle) in Fukushima prefecture. While I was there, I picked up some of the English print pamphlets while walking the castle grounds. I sat down to enjoy some tea and read the pamphlets as a diversion. My eyes were immediately drawn to the following words written in the pamphlet, “Hideyoshi Toyotomi - the shogun,” a mistake so egregious I had to correct it immediately. Just as I finished reading about Hideyoshi Toyotomi in their pamphlet, one of their tour guides strolled by with a client, and I politely asked her a few simple questions, “Is this pamphlet from your office?” I then followed with, “It says here that Hideyoshi Toyotomi was shogun. Is that correct?” Her reply was, “Yes, that’s right. Hideyoshi Toyotomi was shogun.” I launched into a 5-minute corrective measure to her on Japanese history, explaining the points that I made above. The gentleman who she was guiding on a private, historical tour of Aizu castle confirmed, “Yes, he’s right. There was never a Hideyoshi Toyotomi shogunate,” and he then made a quick and polite excuse to end his tour with that particular guide, but this was only the beginning. To the average reader, this may seem harsh, but Japanese people pride themselves on factual accuracy, but seemingly only for themselves at times. Losing face is a concept that has crossed the cultural divide, and if a samurai lost face, then it meant death by his own katana. However, it seems that for international visitors, non-Japanese, that the ‘facts’ are presented in a much more cavalier manner. With all this in mind, I visited the main administrative office of Tsuruga-jo and made my case for the factual error in the English pamphlet. The conversation started with me talking to a clerk, then quickly, the head administrator came to continue the conversation. We exchanged business cards, as is the custom in Japan, and I began, “Excuse me, is this some kind of a joke, kind sir? Japan had three shogunates which are: the Kamakura, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa bakufus, but according to your pamphlet,” I said incredulously, “there was a fourth bakufu/shogun, the Toyotomi? I must have missed that day of lecture at Tokyo University.” By this time, the conversation had attracted several other staff members, but the head administrator summarily excused everyone else in attendance and told them to return to their desks. Everyone in the office beside me was red-faced with shame. The administrator told me in Japanese that he would remove the pamphlet from circulation immediately. I reflected for a moment and wondered how long this historical inaccuracy had been in print, so I asked how many years that mistaken pamphlet had been available for tourists, to which he replied, “Two years.” You could have bowled me over with a feather. He added that the pamphlet had been translated by a person in Tokyo, and they accepted it as correct. Small English errors such as ‘tee’ for ‘tea’ don’t bother me, but this is an enormous factual error that people who had read the pamphlet would internalize and take home with them. I’ve heard horror stories from clients, friends, and colleagues about getting incorrect information when I wasn’t present. Japan is a country full of superstition. People hate admitting that they don’t have the answers, so to save face, the tour guides give shallow, oversimplified answers to questions, such as reducing Japan’s mystical, mythological, and sociological history to good karma and bad karma. Your average tour guide is just that, average, so you get average and often below average answers to your questions. These guides don’t have backgrounds in history, and they know about 2,000 kanji. This is part of why I started digging and studying ancient Japanese folklore and history and befriended several academics from Tokyo University and Waseda University. They were of great help and guided me along my way to start understanding authentic Japanese symbology, mythology, sociology, and authentic folklore, among other topics.

Tsuruga-jo Castle in Fukushima, a rebuilt castle

Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle (会津若松城, Aizu-Wakamatsu-jō), also known as Tsuruga Castle (鶴ヶ城 Tsuru-ga-jō) is a concrete replica of a traditional Japanese castle.

One of three staff members (!) at the Fukushima castle who said 'Yes, Toyotomi was Shogun'

She could not con our workshop leader with her charms, so off he went to the main administration building and got the pamphlet removed. He thought this women was going to hit his hands with the letter opener she was tapping on the counter.

People who have experience and knowledge of the supernatural and what some would refer to as the unknown have a better idea than 95% of the population about what they are getting involved in. Sometimes there are places I’d rather not enter because the energy is where the spiritual animals reside, and, in general, humans are not welcome. If you have ever seen Richard Gere in the Mothman film, you will have an idea of what I’m talking about. If you want to dive deeper into authentic Japan and Nikko, there are 103 buildings and structures, and I intimately know most of the history of the 103 and many other power vortex spots throughout Japan, but I am human, and at times, I require the assistance of the Dimensional Concierges and references from my journals for accuracy’s sake. Some of the stories are so intense that in today’s social climate, I would have to warn everyone about the graphic nature linked to some of the historical events and some of the sordid happenings inextricably bound to Samurai, Nippon, and contemporary Japanese history. Furthermore, today, we have the LGBTQ+ community. I’m cisgendered, but across Japan, there seems to be a problem with the LGBTQ+ community in modern times. However, before the Meiji Era, the LGBTQ+ community was strong. Some of the bravest samurais that you have heard or read about, such as Oda Nobunaga, were rumored to have enjoyed the company of his sandal bearers, which would be considered the actions of a non-binary individual. Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s first post under Oda Nobunaga, who he hand-picked, was a sandal bearer, but there is no concrete evidence of a clandestine relationship.

An Ancient Cemetery

In times passed, many were not cremated in Japan, and buried. But our workshop leader has only seen one or two spots where cemeteries are fenced in like this one. And he has seen workers cleaning it, but they never go in?

Shinto Ritual Altar for The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nikko, Japan

The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu was buried on the summit of Mt. Kunozan, but in truth there are five locations dedicated to him. And in many cases these leaders were buried with treasure. And we may never know their true resting place!

UNESCO World Heritage Site Nikko, Japan

This doorway is in honor of The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is said to lead to the afterlife, and beyond the doorway is a cemetery, but who is buried there is a question mark. Only a handful know.

As mentioned in a previous article, there were three unifiers in Japan: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and because of the shogun, we have the Shrines and Temples of Nikko - UNESCO World Heritage Site. The shrines and temples remain sacred sites, masterpieces of samurai architects, and Nikko’s natural surroundings also constitute part of the sacred sites, all actively used. Still, there are some rooms and spots that are off-limits to everyone, so please don’t jump fences or enter areas marked do not enter. Furthermore, in Nikko, the Yomeimon, one of the 12 gates of the Imperial Court, has over 500 masterful wood carvings; of these, 194 are carvings of 30 different kinds of mystical, mythological entities that are believed to be bi-dimensional; these mystic creatures are known as “Reiju Holy Spiritual Animal Entities.” The Yomeimon gate is massively HUGE, standing over thirty feet high, twenty feet wide, and fourteen feet thick. The gate is not only known as the Sunlight Gate but also as the Twilight Gate, due to people standing mesmerized for hours well into the blue hour after the golden hour, and the gate and many other places in Nikko and around Japan are power vortex points or portals of awakening - Chakras. And many of these people are historians looking for ciphers or answers to questions left by the samurai architects.

The Yomeimon Gate - Nikko, Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Yomeimon gate is huge, and our workshop leader has spent hours upon hours photographing it in detail, from morning to night, in search of hidden cyphers.

As a side note, an acquaintance and colleague who is a professor at Tokyo University suggested I read the “Hagakure: The Book of Hidden Leaves: The Way of the Samurai” by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It was an easy read. My colleague at Tokyo University was so impressed with my ease of reading this supposed Japanese enigma; he mentioned that over 99% of Japanese don’t even know that this book about the samurai exists. The Hagakure is codified Bushido, a handbook for how to conduct yourself as a samurai. I thought to myself, “Have I have finally found friends to guide me on my journey through ancient mythological histories and truths, including symbology in Japan?” In some ways, yes, my colleagues are of great help to quench my thirst for knowledge. Still, sometimes it takes Shinto temple high priests, Japanese Buddhist abbots, or the First Nations Japanese elders, The Ainu, to satisfy my thirst for knowledge regarding authentic Japanese folklore, symbolism, and history. Another side note, but I cannot promise it to be my last; in Japan, there is what is known as the “Kofun Mounds,” and the caretaker of the mounds and all Kofun sites is the imperial family of Japan. They recognize about a dozen sights, but across Japan, there are over one hundred and seventy thousand Kofun sites that include villages, mounds, and the slowly deteriorating rock carvings similar in age to those across Mesopotamia and regions including Egypt. As folklore would have it, the imperial family of Japan claims to be decedents of the royalty that are buried in the Kofun mounds. Still, to date, no DNA evidence has ever been shown to prove that the people buried in the mounds are related to the imperial family, yet another Japanese enigma that needs to be solved, and even more puzzling, during the coronation of the Reiwa Era Emperor in 2019. Apparently, the newly crowned emperor had not ever laid eyes on the imperial, national treasures that are required to be present for each emperor’s coronation. These artifacts are said to be so holy that only the highest Shinto priests can handle these heavenly manifestations of Japan’s alleged divine origins, the so-called building blocks of Japan, but the First Nations People of Japan, the Ainu, were residents of Japan long before the Kofun period.

Our workshop leader interprets this as a Eurasian Symbol and has only seen one of these in Japan.

This location is said to be an ancient Kofun site, in the hills of Nikko. This monument has almost a European feel to it. And there is no plaque to decipher the meaning.

Kofun Era Unusual Carving and Mound

A Kofun era place of worship, a rare find, in today's Japan. Underneath this carved rock face are tunnel ways and a chamber for prayer's and superheated rooms for sleeping. And there were said to be burial mounds, but they are long gone.

Kegon Falls

Kegon Falls are a must visit, but you have to visit the falls at the right time of day.

Even after finishing the last Nikko article, I had more to discuss, but, in truth, Nikko is a never-ending rabbit hole of stories, photography, and adventures. It not only has shrines and temples, but as mentioned in my previous article, it has nature, samurai battlegrounds, and one of the most breathtaking waterfalls on the planet. What’s not to love? I realize this article has focused more on history than photography, but it’s part of the story I left out of my previous article. I wanted to revisit this historic power vortex location with you. Nikko is a spot that embodies samurai history, architecture and is eye candy for the visual artist. And in my opinion, after visiting Nikko, all others will pale by comparison.

Explore Nikko With JDS In the Low Season!

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