Nokogiri Yama

After two full days in the chaos of Tokyo, I had had enough. Last Monday was our final full day in Japan, and Jason had to fly back to Sapporo for the day for some final meetings. Fiona and I were on our own for the day, and I just didn't have it in me to take on the crowds and the complex metro system of Tokyo for a third day. So after a little research, we decided on a day trip to Nokogiri Yama (literally, "saw mountain," named for its characteristic sawtoothed profile).

Our outing started with about an hour long train ride to the small port town of Kurihama. From there, we took the ferry for a 40 minute ride across Tokyo Bay.

Not a bad setup for the trip!

It was a beautiful day to spend some time on the water. Unfortunately still a little too hazy to see Mt Fuji which is visible in the distance on clear (usually winter) days.

We relaxed on the outdoor deck - Fiona reading and me catching up on blog posts.

We've taken the ferry many times in various parts of the world, but never have I seen a body of water so busy with huge vessels. They were everywhere and the ferry literally had to weave its way through all the "traffic" in the bay.

Before we knew it, we had arrived in town of Hama-Kanaya, home to the ropeway (cable car) that takes visitors up Nokogiri Yama. Given that it was probably the hottest, most humid day of our entire visit to Japan, we opted to take it easy and ride the ropeway both directions. And in celebration of finding here first love in Japan, Fiona got the exciting surprise of one last Coca-cola before returning to the real world where her mother doesn't buy soda and we don't eat ice cream on the daily (sometimes multiple times per day). Here she is savoring every sip on the ride up the mountain:

The views from the top were fantastic.

The port town of Hama-Kanaya completely framed by the surrounding mountains:

And just south of Hama-Kanaya, the seaside town of Hota:

After checking out the views from the ropeway observation deck, we made our way down this narrow trail literally THROUGH the mountain:

...which led to the Hundred-shaku Kannon. "Shaku," or Japanese foot, is a Japanese unit of length originally based on the distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger. Today, the unit has been standardized to 11.9 inches. This relief statue of Kannon is thus roughly 100 feet tall.

The next stop along the trail was at this frightening lookout point, jutting off the side of the mountain.

Fiona and I headed out together. Being out there was actually much less terrifying that looking at it from the side. While standing on it, the railings keep you far enough from the edges that you really can't even tell you're hanging off the edge of the mountain.

Next Fiona braved a trip out on her own so I could get a picture of her. Unfortunately, she wasn't really tall enough to be able to see over the railing!

As we walked along the rugged ridge line, we saw really great views in every direction.

After we'd had our fill of breathtaking views, we continued along a path that led down the mountain through the sprawling Nehon-ji Temple complex that makes for a unique mix of hiking and shrine viewing.

As we walked, something quite suddenly came falling from the trees above landing with a thud right in front of us. It was this cute little guy! He took quite a fall and seemed too stunned to move so we were a little worried about him, but he was gone by the time we headed back up, so I guess he was okay...

After walking down a LOT of stairs, we arrived at the temples 102ft tall Daibutsu (giant Buddha) statue. It is the largest pre-modern, hand carved Buddha in all of Japan.

Just to the right of this Daibutsu is another smaller, but much more moving scene:

I actually couldn't find any information online about this site in particular, but after my research into previous statues and memorials we've seen, I'd put money on the fact that this Kannon surrounded by thousands of tiny Jizo figurines. I was really glad that Fiona (oddly) didn't ask any questions about it because if I'm right, each of those tiny red capped and bibed figurines represents a dead child. There were so many of them...

Moving on from this scene, we continued down the path weaving along (and in some places through) the mountainside...

...we passed through caves...

...under tunnels...

...and over thickly knotted root trails.

This trail, which had us slowly climbing back up toward the ropeway, led us finally to the Path of the 1500 Arhat sculptures. Along this short section of trail, we passed 1500 statues of arhat (term for people who have advanced far along the path of enlightenment, but who have not yet reached nirvana) housed in small mountainside caves. 

Many of these statues were missing their heads and we later learned that this damage occurred during the Meiji period of destruction when much Buddhist property through Japan was destroyed in an anti-Buddhist movement. This included the beheading of hundreds of statues at the Nihon-ji temple.

One last big climb after the path of arhat sculptures, and we were back at the ropeway. I think it must have been the heat and humidity of the day, because although this was by no means the most difficult hike we did in Japan, I was by far the most exhausted. Fiona was dragging a bit too, but then went in the bathroom and came out a minute later saying she had splashed some water on her face and was good to go. She meant it too because while I practically had to crawl the ten minutes back to the ferry, she skipped and sang the entire way. What I wouldn't give for a small fraction of a six-year-old's energy!

This was a great day trip out of Tokyo and definitely one of the most unique places we visited in all of our Japan travels!