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Techniques of crafts and decoration such as coloring, metal fitting and sculpture, were gathered in the Yomeimon. People are not tired of looking at the gate all day long because of its excellence. There are 5173 sculptures in Toshogu Shrine totally.
This gate is the most famous work of architecture in Nikko. It has been maintained through repeated roofing repair and painting repair to keep it in a condition equal to that at the time of original construction, including its decorative sculpture and other decorative members. It is the most elegantly decorated among the shrine buildings of Toshogu. The great extent of decorative effort peculiar to this particular construction can be seen in the fact that even the structural members are decorated with patterns and sometimes ornamented with sculptures on the surface. Admirable workmanship is recognizable in the decorative expressions produced through a combination of painting, coloring and metal fittings carefully selected in consideration of the subjects or motifs to be expressed in them and the durability of the materials. |
