literally ''"saw mountain"'' is a low

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

on the

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It lies on the southern border of the city of

Futtsu file:富津市役所.jpg, 260px, Futtsu City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,476 in 18,115 households and a population density of 210 persons per km2. The total are ...

and the town

Kyonan file:鋸山から保田方面 Hota view from Mt. Nokogiri 20130105 - panoramio.jpg, 250px, View of Hota from Mount Nokogiri is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,409 in ...

in Awa District in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

. The mountain runs east to west, having the characteristic sawtoothed profile of a . It falls steeply into

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

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 , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the marks of which are still picturesquely evident. The western side of the mountain is also the site of the sprawling

Nihon-ji is a Buddhism in Japan, Buddhist Buddhist temples in Japan, temple in the city of Kyonan, Chiba, Kyonan, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The temple is located on the slopes of Mount Nokogiri (Chiba), Mount Nokogiri and is known for its Nihon-ji Daibut ...

temple complex, which is the home of two

Daibutsu or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese language, Japanese term, often used informally, for large Japanese sculpture, statues of List of Buddhas, Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera (609) and the best-known is that at Tōdai-ji in Nara, Nara, N ...

sculptures - a huge seated carving of

Yakushi Nyorai Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

that at tall is the largest pre-modern, stone-carved Daibutsu in Japan, and the "Hundred-'' shaku'' Kannon", a tall

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

image of

Kannon Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

carved into one of the quarry walls - as well as 1500 hand-carved

arhat In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the Rebirth (Buddhism ...

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

, where Cape Myōgane () is a good place to watch large ships pass through

Uraga Channel The is a waterway connecting Tokyo Bay to the Sagami Gulf. It is an important channel for ships headed from Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chiba to the Pacific Ocean and beyond. Geography The Uraga channel is at the southern end of Tokyo Bay (formerly ...

at sunset.

Highlights

Mt.Nokogiri from Mt.Iyogatake 01.jpg, Mount Nokogiri (background) from Mount Iyogatake File:Mt.Nokogiri.JPG, Mount Nokogiri from Tokyo Bay File:Nokogiriyama-ropeway.JPG, Nokogiriyama Ropeway File:Nokogiriyama-Ropeway-Sancho.JPG, Nokogiriyama Ropeway Summit Station File:Remains of Nokogiri Yama quarry.jpg, Remains of Nokogiriyama Quarry Image:Nihonji daibutsu.jpg, ) Image:Jigoku nozoki.jpg, Image:Hyaku shaku kannon.jpg, Image:Hyakutai kannon.JPG,

External links

{{Commonscat, Mount Nokogiri (Chiba)
Nokogiriyama at 1000 Leaves Chiba Prefecture wiki encyclopedia

References

Nokogiri, Mount Futtsu Kyonan