Humbling, Majestic Nokogiriyama

 Chiba and Saitama, two of Tokyo's three neighboring prefectures, are often the butt of (my) jokes. They don't often show up in tourism and travel books, and that's because they're quite, well, bland. I found myself running a Google search on what someone could possibly do in the prefecture of Chiba, and, lo and behold, I stumbled upon something new and unexpected. I grabbed Dario and dragged him into it while he was in the blind, not knowing where we were going or what we were doing. Truth be told, I can't completely say I was ready for what awaited us either.

 As it turns out, Some two and a half-hours away from the heart of Tokyo by train, is Nokogiriyama, the Sawtooth Mountain. It's not as imposing as it sounds, and makes for quite a brief, friendly hike. So too is there the option of using a rope-way and getting to the top in less than four minutes. But it's not the mountain that makes Nokogiriyama such an amazing find, as lovely as the view is from the top. It's every little thing along the way.
 Starting from Hamanakaya train station, one can easily reach the top of the mountain in an hour and a half. The hiking trail is at least as friendly as Mount Takao's, and leads you through gaps between cliff faces while often putting the backdrop of the neighboring towns directly behind you, allowing you to see the altitude you're gaining.

Pictures can't describe how amazing this looks, truly.

 The first stop of notice, near the summit, is the towering likeness of Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, the Hyakushaku Kannon. Carved into the face of a cliff, the Hyakushaku Kannon is like something out of fantasy. Overlooking a square shrouded in the shadows of trees looming far overhead, the carving stares straight into another cliff face, effectively creating a gigantic stone hallway. Finding such a thing in Chiba was like finding a pot of gold in my backyard.
 The Kannon itself would've been enough to make the trip worth it, but on top of that, just a little further on, one reaches the summit of the mountain, which offers a perfect 360 panorama of the surrounding area, unhidden by tall trees and other such obstructions. With hawks circling the forests and the beach and sea within plain sight, the summit of Nokogiriyama is one of the most satisfying rewards for a hike, despite the modest height of the mountain itself. Even the view below is unobstructed, and one can easily look down and see the very same square where the Hyakushaku Kannon stands guard.

Yet there's still more. Descending the mountain from the other side puts you in sight of the 1500 faces of the Guden Koga's Arhats. The 1500 statues are of varying sizes and practically line the whole face of the mountain. They have different facial expressions and are said to be carved out of stone from the Izu peninsula. Having taken almost 20 years to complete, they now serve in making the mountain one of the holiest sites in Japan. Unfortunately, many of the statues were defaced by Anti-Buddhist movement decades ago, but most still stand in all their integrity.

 And last but not least, sitting in a clearing, is the big man himself. The Great Buddha of Nihon-ji is the largest sitting Buddha in Japan, at 31 meters tall - a whole 17 meters taller than the one in Kamakura and 13 meters taller than the one in Nara. Carved by the same artisan as the 1500 Arhats from earlier (and his 27 apprentices) it's been restored to its former glory after countless years of wear and tear and erosion. Its appearance is meant to symbolize the existence of the whole universe as a "pure field confined within a lotus world" - whatever that may mean. I'm just quoting here.
 All in all, Nokogiriyama has been amazement upon amazement, and I went home quite happy with my discovery.
You're next, Saitama.