It is via this very same avenue leading to the tomb of the first shogun that, since 1616, shoguns and thousands of pilgrims have come to the sacred city of Nikko from Tokyo every year. It is fascinating to walk along this road bordered on either side by giant cedars that create a long tunnel of such dense greenery that it is almost impenetrable for the sun's rays. This forest, with its knots of roots growing over the moss-covered slopes, used to stand unbroken over a nearly 37km stretch.