We decided to take the bus from central Nikko all the way on winding roads up the mountains to Tobu Nikko station (about a 45 minute ride) to view the Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji. But upon arrival at Tobu Nikko, the first order of the day was - lunch! Numerous restaurants and shops lined the main road, so we just picked one at random (based on their "fake food" display).
Lunch took a bit longer than expected due to there being only one cook (the right-most picture above proved prescient), but pretty soon we were walking towards Kegon Falls, the most famous among Nikko's waterfalls. Kegon falls is quite lovely, with the water cascading down from a height of 97 meters, and apparently popular among lonely Japanese youth for suicide attempts. I've seen more exciting waterfalls, especially in Iceland, but it was nice nonetheless.
After a few minutes viewing the Kegon Falls, it was a short walk in the other direction to placid Lake Chuzenji, the highest natural lake in all of Japan formed with the eruption of Mt. Nantai twenty thousand years ago. It was a quiet weekday, the paddle boats were all idle, and except for a lone fisherman there was not a soul to be seen.
The fisherman stood knee-deep on the edge of the lake, his full concentration devoted to the task at hand. From time to time he would cast his fishing line, whipping it through the air in a swift motion, enticing the fish to bite. I never did see him catch any, and eventually left him to his own devices to catch the bus back to Nikko.
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