Mount Nokogiri (Chiba)
The mountain runs east to west, having the characteristic sawtoothed profile of a Japanese saw (鋸, nokogiri). It falls steeply into Tokyo Bay on its western side, where it is pierced by two road tunnels and a rail tunnel, carrying the Uchibo Line south from Futtsu to Tateyama. Both features are due in part to the mountain's history as a stone quarry in the Edo period, the marks of which are still picturesquely evident.
The western side of the mountain is also the site of the sprawling Nihon-ji temple complex, which is the home of two Daibutsu sculptures - a huge seated carving of Yakushi Nyorai that at 31.05 metres (101.9 ft) tall is the largest pre-modern, stone-carved Daibutsu in Japan, and the "Hundred-shaku Kannon", a tall relief image of Kannon carved into one of the quarry walls - as well as 1500 hand-carved arhat sculptures, which combined with the spectacular scenery of the Bōsō Hills and Tokyo Bay, make Mount Nokogiri a popular tourism destination.
The temple is accessible by road and by a cable car, the Nokogiriyama Ropeway, which runs from Hamakanaya Station on the JR Uchibo Line to a lookout deck near the top of the temple precinct.
The western end of the mountain falls precipitously into Tokyo Bay, where Cape Myōgane (Japanese: 明鐘岬) is a good place to watch large ships pass through Uraga Channel at sunset.
Highlights
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Mount Nokogiri (background) from Mount Iyogatake -
Mount Nokogiri from Tokyo Bay -
Nokogiriyama Ropeway -
Nokogiriyama Ropeway Summit Station -
Remains of Nokogiriyama Quarry -
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"View of Hell" (地獄のぞき, Jigoku Nozoki) -
Hundred-shaku Kannon (百尺観音, Hyaku-shaku Kannon) -
1,500 Arhat (千五百羅漢, Sen-Gohyaku Rakan)
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