{"id":14,"date":"2015-07-11T02:24:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T02:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/?p=14"},"modified":"2020-03-24T04:07:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T04:07:15","slug":"next-door-and-a-world-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/11\/next-door-and-a-world-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Door and a World Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t let the fact that few have heard of Nokogiriyama\u2014and even fewer visited\u2014fool you into thinking \u201cSaw Blade Mountain\u201d isn\u2019t an excellent option for a day trip from the Tokyo area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located across Tokyo Bay on the B\u014ds\u014d Peninsula (Chiba\nPrefecture), a little over an hour from Yokohama and closer to two from Tokyo,\nthis mountain derives its name from its resemblance to a Japanese woodworking\nsaw, or nokogiri<\/em>. It used to be a stone\nquarry during the Edo period, and the excavation of rock is partly responsible\nfor giving the mountain its unique appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The main attraction is Nihon-ji, a Buddhist temple that\ntraces its history back to the Nara period, about 1,300 years ago. This is where\nyou\u2019ll find Japan\u2019s largest stone Buddha, which used to be the largest figure\nof Buddha anywhere in Japan until the completion of Aomori\u2019s bronze statue in\n1984. Entrance is \u00a5600, and you\u2019ll also\nreceive an English map and description of the sprawling temple grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hyakushaku Kannon is an impressive relief of Kannon, a\nbodhisattva and goddess of mercy, carved directly into a quarry wall. Hyaku<\/em> means one-hundred, and shaku<\/em> is a traditional unit of measure\nin Japan (and East Asia, although not uniform), the average length between nodes\non bamboo, or approximately one foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 1,500 Arhats are smaller statues of spirits or beings that\nhave attained nirvana. They were chiseled from special stones sent by sea from\nIzu. The enormous task took master artisan Jingor\u014d Eirei \u014cno and his 27 apprentices\n19 years to complete. Unfortunately, many of the masterpieces were destroyed in\nthe anti-Buddhist movement of the Meiji period, but there are current efforts\nto restore them to their former glory. Still, among Buddhists, Mt. Nokogiri is\nwidely regarded as one of the holiest mountains in the Kant\u014d area; some even\nsay the world, though I suspect they have a B\u014ds\u014d bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views from the cliff face out over the bay are breathtaking, and you could easily spend a couple of hours visiting the different sights of Nihon-ji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard footwear is adequate, but do be aware that there are many steps and you may be a little short of breath if you\u2019re not used to hiking or climbing many stairs. There are toilets and refreshments available at both ends of the ropeway, as well as at the big Buddha. The ropeway runs every ten minutes and is located about a ten-minute walk from either Kanaya ferry port or Hamakanaya JR Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve made an early start and have a few extra hours after\nyour visit to Nokogiriyama, you might want to take a trip a little further down\nthe peninsula to the beach town of Tateyama, which has a claim to fame as the\nprimary filming location of a popular TV show called \u201cBeach Boys\u201d. From\nHamakanaya Station, take the JR Uchibo Line 25 minutes south to Tateyama\nStation (\u00a5410 each way, departures\nroughly every half hour).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    From Tokyo, there are\ntwo ways to Nokogiriyama. One is by train, with a transfer at either Chiba or\nSoga stations to the JR Uchibo line, disembark at Hamakanaya Station (2 hours, \u00a51,940\neach way). The other is by a train and ferry combo. Take the Keikyu line to\nKeikyu Kurihama station (72 min, \u00a5960 each way), board a bus at stop number 2 for\nthe Tokyo Wan Ferry port (10 minutes, \u00a5200), and board the ferry to Kanaya (40\nminutes, 720 one-way, \u00a51,320 return).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you like variety,\nyou might like to do the trip to Nokogiriyama in a big circle, taking the ferry\none-way and train the other. If you\u2019re planning a visit from Yokohama or\nKamakura, it takes even less time, but the ferry is really the best option. The\nferry leaves roughly once an hour, and the schedule can be found here (departures\nfrom Kurihama port are on the left, and from Kanaya port on the right):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For those arriving at\nJR Kurihama Station (instead of Keikyu Kurihama station mentioned above), take\nthe bus from stop number 5 (12 minutes, \u00a5200). For groups of 4, a taxi is the\nsame fare as a bus and leaves on your schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    From either Kanaya\nferry port or JR Hamakanaya station, it is about a ten-minute walk to the\nropeway (\u00a5500 one-way, \u00a5930 return), which will take you to the entrance of\nNihon-ji and departs every ten minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Again, for those who\nappreciate history or nature, this makes for a great day trip from the main\nconurbation of Tokyo. With its unique atmosphere and spectacle, and a remoteness\nthat belies its proximity to the city, it will likely leave you feeling as if\nyou\u2019ve just had a dream, as it did me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Don\u2019t let the fact that few have heard of Nokogiriyama\u2014and even fewer visited\u2014fool you into thinking \u201cSaw Blade Mountain\u201d isn\u2019t an excellent option for a day trip from the Tokyo area. Located across Tokyo Bay on the B\u014ds\u014d Peninsula (Chiba Prefecture), a little over an hour from Yokohama and closer to two from Tokyo, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[13,12,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}