Guidebooks describe several calm outings within easy reach of central Tokyo, and this guide sets two of them side by side for travelers who prefer a slower kind of day.
A carved Buddha on Mount Nokogiri
According to the guidebook, Nihonji temple on Mount Nokogiri in Chiba prefecture holds a colossal Buddha carved directly into a single exposed rock face, rising more than twice the height of the Great Buddha at Nara. According to the guidebook, the original carving was created in 1783 and took three years to complete.
A calm farm beside Jindaiji Temple
According to the guidebook, Jindaiji Temple and its surrounding district lie in Chōfu city in the western suburbs of Tokyo, within easy reach of central Tokyo. Guidebooks describe an experimental farm beside the temple, run by a Tokyo metropolitan agricultural high school, as a tranquil, nature-immersive place of spring-fed water channels and ponds. Guidebooks describe the same farm as a working ground for wasabi cultivation, shiitake mushroom growing, rainbow trout rearing, and stands of rare katakuri wildflowers. Guidebooks describe entry to that farm as free of charge. Guidebooks describe the sightseeing around Chōfu and Jindaiji as concentrated in one compact district rather than scattered across the region.
How the two compare
Set side by side, the Mount Nokogiri trip is described in guidebooks as the outing built around a single carved figure. The Jindaiji trip, by contrast, is described in guidebooks as the calmer, garden-centered of the two.
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