Mt. Nokogiri is actually Nihonji Temple which is the oldest Buddhism temple in Kanto built in 725. The name “Nihon” is the also the name of Japan and it has been given by the Emperor Syoumu(聖武天皇).
It becomes Soto Zen Buddhism in Shogun Iemitsu of Tokugawa government. Many famous Buddhist monks trained at this temple for over thousand years.

Daibutsu, the Great Buddha
The name of Nihonji Daibutsu is Yakushirurikonyorai(薬師瑠璃光如来), and represent the entire the space is the pure land, and it leads the world to the peace and safe. It has 31m high and as the sitting great Buddha statue, Hinonji Daibutsu is the biggest Daibutsu in Japan. Original statue was built in 1783. However, around the end of Edo period, the damage by weathering, it lost almost the all shape until 1966. In 1969, it has been fixed.

Tokai 1,500 Rakan (東海千五百羅漢)
In 1779, craft man Kangoro Ono and his students spend 21 years to make 1,500 stone statues of Buddha and place the cliff of the mountain. As the Rakan spiritual sanctuary, it is the biggest in the world.

Hyakusyaku Kannon (百尺観音)
is the stone cave Kannon statue built in 1963. It was made for dedicated the peace of the soldiers who died in World War II. It has about 30m high, and placed right below the Jigokunozoki.

Note:
Please keep in mind the manners when you visit Nihonji.
- Don’t touch the stone statue and other facilities.
- Don’t take the flowers of the mountain.
- Take your trash with you and never leave it in the temple.
- Smoke only at the smoking area and don’t trash the ash in the temple.