Hiking?! My trip to Nokogiriyama

First thing's first; I would like to point out that I am not the nature type. I'm allergic to trees and grass, I'm terrified of bugs and I'm just an overall lazy person so this adventure was really out of the box for me. What was it? A trip to Nokogiriyama!

My sister and I made the 90 minute train ride down to Hanakayama in the Bouso peninsula in Chiba. We ate some delicious Yakisoba in a tiny restaurant run from the home of a woman in the town. From there we headed to the ropeway station. We had perfect timing and as soon as we bought our tickets we got called to board the car. The way up was gorgeous and you can see Tokyo Bay and the mountains and it's glorious. Once you reach the top, the only way out of the station is through the observatory so you get another breathtaking view of the area.

Once we were done enjoying the view, we started walking. Our objectives were: the largest Buddha statue in Japan and the "View of Hell" however we got to see a few other things that were totally worth it. Both my sister and I were not mentally or physically prepared for the hiking ahead. Once we reached the entrance to Nihon Temple, we paid the entry fee and decided on our route. Since we bought a round-trip ticket for the ropeway, we chose to go down to see the Buddha first, using the route where we could see the 1,500 figures of Tokai Arhats (small statues of Buddhist monks who've reached enlightment) and work our way back up to the "View of Hell".

Down we went. Luckily, the steps are very even and nice so that's less of a problem. But the lower we went, the more realized how horrible it would be to climb it back up. It didn't help to see the people going back up huffing and puffing.

The nice thing about the way down is that the 1,500 Arhats are scattered all over and they're beautiful. Unfortunately, a lot of them have been destroyed and are headless. The ones who do have heads though have great faces. Each has a different face! There are bigger ones and smaller ones, rounder ones and skinnier ones, and all made from stone. All Gorgeous.

After a mild heart attack caused by the thought of a spider being near me (the spiders were huge and terrifying and I'm scared of regular small ones so… yes), we reached the giant Buddha! And my oh my, giant it is! Standing at 31.05m it's the tallest Buddha statue in Japan! It's magnificent and the whole area is green a serene. Well, except for the wasps. I don't like wasps. So, after a small break and a wasp almost killing me, we started our way back up. It must be mentioned that pain and suffering brings the best in people. So many words of encouragement! Both on the way down and on the way up, people were smiling and the word "ganbare!" (do your best/keep it up) was exchanged many a times.

The way up was painful. Very painful. But apparently, going up and down four flights of stairs on a regular basis does help because I was not dying! I pulled through it quite magnificently if I do say so myself. I was really surprised. Anyway, we reached the top!

 

After all that climbing, we were quite tired and very sweaty. It was extremely windy at the top so we got very cold! The "View of Hell" was ironically stunning. From there we went back down and got to see the Hundred Shaku Kannon which is about as tall as the Buddha statue and somehow even more impressive. I think it's because of the area it's located. The Buddha is in a very open area while the Kannon is surrounded by straight walls carved into the mountain. It gives it a much more spiritual aura.

 

After that, we made our way back to the ropeway and back home. It was a very beautiful trip, and much shorter than one might think. It was barely half a day, but it was very fun and definitely different from what I usually do.

But don't you think it means I'll start climbing mountains now! I doubt you'll see a post here about Mt. Fuji. ;)