Tokyo: Mount Nokogiri

Tokyo: Mount Nokogiri

• 23 June 2015

solo hiking, lets go!

THE SAW MOUNTAIN

JUly 20TH, 2015

Nokogiri Yama (literally means"saw mountain"), unique for its nicely shaped rocks, derives its name from the rock outline that shapes like the teeth of a saw. Approx 3 hours away from downtown Tokyo, in Chiba prefecture, it is a perfect place for a day-trip! It's great for hiking and it's definately less touristy, well, I guess not many people know of this place, I have no idea why, but when I was there, there wasn't much people...

For me, I took a day trip there and getting there, I took the JR Uchibo Line to Hamakanaya station. On the train ride there, you will be greeted with a splendid coastline view, as Hamakanaya is a harbor town facing Tokyo Bay itself, oh yes there's a ferry port there too. From Hamakanaya station, assuming you walk in the right way, it takes about 15 mins walk to the Nokogiriyama Ropeway. The entire place was very quiet, almost no one walking around when I was there thus I had to slowly find my way to the ropeway, thank God when I was nearing, I saw a tour bus and that indicated I was on the right track, yay! (:

Okay, so...
I did something for myself - a solo hike up to the famous cliff spot, Jigokunozoki, literary means the hell-view. It just means that you can see the bottom of the cliff from the sharp-edge protruding rock. Well, I would say... it's actually a beautiful view, not a hell-ish view, so do not worry! It takes about approx 1.5hours hike between the station to the peak, depending on how fast you are... but anyways, that was my goal, to reach up to the peak! I mean since I travelled all the way there already, and the fact that I am already there... why not just go all out and climb all the way right! Don't give up! Along the hike, there are many historical materials made of carved stone such as a big Buddha statue, which is the biggest in the Orient.

After coming down back to the foot of Nokogiriyama Ropeway, I walked back to Hamakanaya station however, sadly I missed the train by a few seconds :/ How unlucky right! Do note that as it is not a frequently accessed station (not much people like I said), the trains back to Tokyo area come every hour only. But anyways, I kept telling myself everything happens for a reason, and indeed! Because, I managed to explore other parts of the place. It's not just a boring station (well, initially I thought I was just gonna be stuck there for another hour), but rather, I found out from the area map that there was a bay area. I was surprised, pleasantly surprised!

I chanced upon a fisherman's market where they sold fresh seafood and confectionary snacks. Along the bay area, there's a ferry wharf, where Koibito no Seichi (Lovers' Sanctuary) is located at! It's actually just a huge love bell monument overlooking the big blue sea, pretty sight for sunsets especially! Apparently, on clear days, it is said that you could see Miura Peninsula, the skyscrapers of Yokohama, Oshima and even Mt. Fuji.


What did I learnt? What was the most fulfilling part of the day?
Solo hiking sounds scary coupled with my fear for random creepy crawlies and wild animals, but by conquering your fears and stepping out of your comfort zone, it can be really rewarding, especially being greeted by a beautiful sunset at the end of the day