Nokogiriyama in Chiba is a beautiful day trip from Tokyo and features a thirty one metre high sitting statue of Buddha. However it also has many other beautiful attractions and it’s definitely worth climbing up and down this mini mountain to see all the amazing sights. I just did it with my family on a humid 35 degree day and it was a sweaty expedition but definitely a worthy day-trip.
The temple on this site was established over 1300 years ago and the main attraction, the Big Buddha that was carved in 1783 is relatively young in comparison. Scattered through the trails of Nokogiriyama, are more than 1500 statues depicting Arhat (mortals who have attained enlightenment). Each Arhat is said to have a unique facial expression, posture and attitude based on an actual person and photographers can spend hours photographing the amazing craftsmanship and history of the place.
The site has been used as a quarry and the deep cuttings into the stone add an interest to this location that set it apart from many of the other historic temple locations nearby.