Since I don’t plan to do any detailed coverage of last spring’s family holiday in Japan, here’s a (mostly) commentary-free gallery of images taken with my mobile phone on a quick day trip to the historic town of Nikkō, in Tochigi Prefecture.

I wanted to focus on this particular episode of our trip because of the serendipitous encounter we had that day: namely, an encounter with unexpected snowfall. Our original plan had been to spend a few hours in Lake Kawaguchiko, but with the weather not being particularly cooperative thereabouts, we decided to head north instead, to admire the splendid architectural treasures in and around the famed Tokugawa mausolea at Nikkō. I’d been there before, so I knew what to expect…

…or so I thought. If memory serves, the day’s forecast did hint at the possibility of snowfall in that region, but none of us could have foreseen the volume that actually ended up blanketing Nikkō – nor the mysterious, almost otherworldly beauty that the veil of new-fallen snow would overlay upon the richly decorated shrines and gilded halls of the town.