Kishu Toshogu Shrine (Tokugawa Mausoleum)

Kishu Toshogu Shrine, overlooking Wakaura Bay in Wakayama, was built in 1621-22 by Tokugawa Yorinobu, the first lord of the Kishu Tokugawa domain and a son of shogunate founder Tokugawa Ieyasu. The shrine enshrines both Ieyasu and Yorinobu, and forms part of a small group of Toshogu shrines -- alongside the more famous Nikko Toshogu -- built by branches of the Tokugawa family to honor the founder of the shogunate. Its gongen-zukuri architectural style, in which the worship hall (haiden) and main sanctuary (honden) are joined under a single roof, closely echoes Nikko Toshogu, earning the Wakayama shrine the nickname 'Nikko of Kansai.' The main hall complex is covered in elaborate lacquer work and gilt woodcarvings of birds, flowers, and mythical creatures, executed by craftsmen associated with the Nikko projects. A steep stairway of 108 stone steps, known as the Omote-zaka, leads from the shrine's torii gate up to the main hall. The wooden shrine buildings are among the few Edo-period structures in Wakayama to have survived the American air raid of July 1945 that destroyed much of the city, and the complex has been designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in recognition of its rarity and craftsmanship.