Currently, I am leading a Japan photography tour group of Nikko designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Japanese dogma has made “Zen” a household word know around the world; Japans aesthetics are drawn inspirationally from elements of nature and Buddhist philosophies.  There is no better place than Nikko to experience the authentic Japanese experience.  The Toshogu is Japans most lavishly decorated shrine complex.  The buildings are lacquered and decorated with vibrant colors, and the pillars and other structures are covered in a multitude of carvings.  The carvings are not simply design elements; they are expressions of spirituality (Reiju Holy Spiritual animals) as well as scholarly and philosophical mystical beings.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikko encompasses over 100 buildings and structures, for centuries together with their natural surrounding, have been a sacred site.  They are closely associated with the history of The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Tokugawa Shoguns that followed.  The shrines and temples contain both Shinto and Buddhist elements which are common throughout Japan; as an amateur historian, I have become well versed with these symbolic meaning and elements and am most happy to share my knowledge in what I enjoy to photograph.