Day Trip to Chiba Prefecture (Part 2) / 千葉県日帰り旅行 （パート２）

After eating seafood and ramen, it was finally time to head to our chosen destination, Nihon-ji Temple. But Reiko mentioned something about a giant Kannon statue that overlooks Tokyo Bay. As we could see it from the car, we headed there first. It was called the Tokyo Bay Kannon.

シーフードとラーメンを食べたあと、そろそろ最初の目的地に行くことにした。それはもちろん日本寺。でもその前にレイちゃんがこの近くにデッカイ観音像があると言って、車から見えたし、予定変更。先は東京湾観音を見に行くことにした。

Tokyo Bay Kannon / 東京湾観音

Yep, I would say that's pretty large. In fact the pamphlet that's given out free lets you know that it is size of a twenty story building. And like the Statue of Liberty, you can also walk to the very top and there are two observation points that you can walk out to. One is her left arm. The other is at the top of her head. Inside the Kannon, you will also a host of smaller statues including the Seven Gods of Fortune. But before heading up to the top, we checked out the surroundings as well. This whole area is the Minami Bousou Kokutei Park.

うん、結構でっかいですね。東京湾観音の御案内を貰っていろんなことを知りました。こちの観音様と高さは20回のビルと同じです。ニューヨークにある「自由の女神」と同じく中が入れます。左腕と頭の上に展望台もあります。エレベータがないので、階段でずーと登ります。観音様の中に他の神々の像もいっぱい展示されてます。七福神とかマリア観音など。観音様に登る前に、周りを探索しました。ここは南房総国定公園。

Another view / 別の角度

Cool! The signs says it's some kind of fossil from some 3000 years ago.

三千年前の化石とか書かれてます。


Okay, beats me, and the accompaning sign was too difficult to read. Something about world peace though.

Ah, now this I knew as soon as I saw it and if you are familiar with Japanese Folktales, you would know that this is a statue of Urashima Taro.

あっ、これを見てすぐ分かった。日本昔話が好きな人なら誰でも知ってる、浦島太郎だ！

Tokyo Bay / 東京湾

Tokyo Bay and the Futtsu Peninsula / 東京湾と富津岬

One of the many Kannons / 聖観音

Next we will tour the inside of the Kannon...

次に観音様の中を御案内致します。。。