Nokogiri-yama, Sawtooth Mountain

Last month, April 20th, I went on an unofficial Chiba-kun Ambassador Tour to Nokogiri-yama (鋸山), also known as Sawtooth Mountain. Located in the Minami-Boso peninsula.

I had already seen some views of it when they advertised it with me on TV a while ago. More recently I read about it in the Tokyo weekender, so I was excited to finally go myself.

A view of the cable-cars going up and down the mountain.

The road through the forest

We arrive by car at the cable-car station that would bring us easily and quickly to the top of the mountain.

Once we get out of the mountainside station we are right in the middle of nature. There are roads and stairs going through this mountain forest, but it doesn’t detract from the view.

Goddess of Mercy

The Hyakushaku Kannon

We get to the Hyakushaku Kannon carving of the Buddhist Goddess of mercy.

A shaku is a Japanese measurement of the average length between nodes on bamboo.

Quite a funny measurement you wouldn’t find in the west!

Further up the mountain

This majestic bird just flew straight past me

We get further up on the mountain and witness an eagle stealing someone’s lunch! It was quite a spectacle, but nobody was hurt luckily.

Going further we come across Jigoku Nozoki or ‘The view of hell”. Despite its unflattering name I find the view rather beautiful and impressive. It should be called View of Green in stead I think. With the mountains and the lush green of the trees leading up to the sea, it’s a great place to relax and take it all in.

If hell looks like this I don’t need to go to heaven 😉

I startled one of them

Lots of Small Company

Next we go down the stairs taking the “1500 Arhat Approach” which is lined with small Buddhas everywhere! There is lot of nature as you descend the stairs past the small cheeky statues. They all have their own character with different facial expressions and postures.

Once we get to the bottom after a long and lengthy stroll past all the tiny Buddhas and the beautiful scenery, we arrive at the big guy. The Giant Buddha or Daibutsu Yakushi Nyorai; Buddha of Healing. There is a great atmosphere here in the open air and he is the largest in Japan. (31meters tall)

Yakushi Norai, The Buddha of Healing

Getting there by train
If you wanted to access Nokogiri-yama by train. I’ve read you can get off at the Hanakayama or the Hota station on the Uchibo line, and go through the traditional entrance between them, along the coast and through a narrow path that leads up the mountainside.

More Pics
If you’d like to see more pictures of this trip, you can check out its facebook album.
(We had some fresh fish and stopped by Gake-kannon again.)
If you have any comments or questions feel free to post them in the responses below.

Cheers,
Kyle

Chōshi: The Tip of the Ear

Sunday we, the Chiba+Kun Ambassadors, went on our first Chiba tour to Chōshi.

Wait! Where are we going? Where is this Chōshi?!
Relax, it’s a city on the tip of our dog Chiba-kun’s ear.
If this sounds fishy to you, you’d be right.
Chōshi’s Fishing Port has the largest catch of sardines, bonito and tuna fish throughout Chiba prefecture. 😛 Chōshi’s main catch is the sardine いわし.
Okay, I’ll stop fishing for jokes and show you with this picture I snagged from wikipedia.

That highlighted tip of Chiba-kun’s ear is Chōshi.

Chōshi giving us a warm welcome!

We leave in the travel bus bright and early in the morning and arrive two hours later to the beating of drums!

The performance has several different songs, each with their own story. There is also a special dance in which the Taiko drummers hold the taiko supported by a beam of wood and dance around in circles. (video coming soon)

Food Adventure

Where’s the food?!
Next we head off to eat one of Chōshi’s specialties: Fish! Chōshi’s sashimi (raw cuts of fish) is probably the best I’ve ever tasted. Very fresh. Raw fish should be fresh yes, but it could have come straight from the docks judging the taste. I also had some light-battered tempura shrimp. Delicious!

I could eat that meal again and again.

So what’s for desert?
How about some soy sauce ice cream? If it doesn’t sound good, just trust me, it really is a treat. The first impression is that it tastes of caramel and coffee, licking on it also has an essence of cheese. So it has quite a bit of a cheesecake flavour. However, it is definitely a unique type of ice cream not to be confused with these tamer variants. 😛 We even see the shopkeepers pour in the soy sauce that mixes with the ice cream!

Soy sauce ice cream: A must try!

I have to confess there is more. The next one on the menu is just as strange, perhaps even more so in taste. Soggy rice cracker ice cream is the extremely unappealing name I shall give this one. Not because it’s bad, but just to scare those of you with less adventurous taste buds off. 😉 You see, this ice cream is sweet yet it has salty chunks of cracker in it. The result: An exotic mixture of all sorts of flavours, usually enjoyed separately, popping up in the mouth. It makes me think of Willy Wonka’s factory by how unique it is.

Onward!

Next we take a train past two soy sauce factories; Higeta and Yamasa, both are based in Chōshi. Soy sauce is a thing here. 😉 Then we stop by Inubōsaki Lighthouse, created in 1874 by a Scot called Richard Brunton. It has survived many earthquakes, and still stands fully capable. There is also a museum section concerning the lighthouse. We climb to the top for a good view of the area, and the lighthouse delivers.

There is something romantic about lighthouses I like a lot. Their beacons guiding ships through fearsome storms and treacherous fog, always standing tall and firm. Maybe you’ve seen the kid’s show ‘Around the Twist’, I guess that contributed to the cool and mysterious image of lighthouses I have.

A view from the lighthouse.

Great views and a bit of international history.

I have more pictures uploaded for the public on my FaceBook account.

The Entrance to the Observation Plateau

Another point of interest we stop by before heading home is an observation plateau called 地球の丸く見える丘展望館. Here we have a great panoramic view of all of Chōshi, and more. On a good day you can see Mt Fuji. There are many things to see. The pictures are on my FaceBook. (A video in which I attempt to capture this 360 degree view is on its way to my Youtube channel.)

The tour guides tell us they have the Eastern variety of the white cliffs of Dover here. (It does look quite similar.)

The trip to Chōshi has been swell. Great views, great food, and a unique history as a great fishing port. There is a tour booklet being produced in English which will make exploring Chōshi easier for non-Japanese speakers. It’s a nice day out if you are in Chiba, unless you have other fish to fry. 😉

I hope you enjoyed my account of this tour of Chōshi.
Please leave any questions/ requests/ remarks in the responses below.

Cheers,
Kyle