Spot guide · Shimizu 清水

Kunozan ToshoguWhere Ieyasu was actually buried — Nikko is the copy

Photo: 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0

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From the berth

~25 min taxi + ropeway

From Nihondaira

Time needed

Including the ropeway both ways

Hours

9:00–17:00 (seasonal)

Ropeway closes earlier

Cost

Shrine ~¥500; ropeway ~¥1,250 return

Why it's worth your hours

Tokugawa Ieyasu died in 1616 and was first buried here, on a mountain above the sea. The far more famous shrine at Nikko was built afterwards. Kunozan is the original, is smaller, is more densely decorated per square metre, and receives a small fraction of the visitors.

The main hall is a National Treasure in the gongen-zukuri style — lacquered, gilded and carved to a degree that is hard to photograph and easy to underestimate from pictures. The ropeway from Nihondaira crosses a valley of strawberry greenhouses with the bay behind.

The clock

Does it fit your call?

2–3h ashoreTight

Possible by taxi both ways with no margin. The market is the safer choice.

4–6h ashoreComfortable

Nihondaira, ropeway, shrine, and back with time for lunch.

8h+ ashoreMorning

Then Miho or Shizuoka city in the afternoon.

Timed plansSee the minute-by-minute Shimizu plansEvery step clocked from the gangway →

Do it right

Five things the plaques won't tell you

Take the ropeway from Nihondaira. The 1,159-step stone stairway from the coast is real and it is not a port-day activity.
Nihondaira itself gives the classic view — tea fields, the port, Fuji behind, and often your own ship in frame.
The carvings repay standing still. Most visitors walk the circuit in six minutes and see almost none of it.
The museum beside the shrine holds Ieyasu's possessions, including European clocks given to him.
Check the last ropeway down before you go up. It closes earlier than the shrine.

Eat nearby

The picks

Maguro-don back at the marketThe pick: Kashi-no-Ichi →

Shizuoka green tea at NihondairaThe pick: Nihondaira teahouses →

Quick answers

FAQ

Is Kunozan Toshogu better than Nikko?

It is the original. Ieyasu was first buried here in 1616 and the Nikko shrine was built afterwards. Kunozan is smaller and more densely decorated, its main hall is a National Treasure, and it receives a small fraction of Nikko's visitors — which on a port day is decisive.

How do I get to Kunozan Toshogu from Shimizu port?

Taxi to Nihondaira, about twenty-five minutes, then the ropeway across the valley. The alternative is a 1,159-step stone stairway from the coast, which is real and is not a port-day activity. Check the last ropeway down — it closes earlier than the shrine.

Whatever the plan: back aboard 60 minutes before all-aboard. Full port context on the Shimizu guide.