Kurotakiyama

Mount Kurotaki, 266 meters above sea level and towering over strangely shaped rocks, is home to a Kannon Hall and 33 stone Buddha statues. The views from the hiking trails and summit are amazing, with views of Okunoshima Island, the Geiyo Islands below, and the Shikoku Mountains in the distance. The Kannon Hall on the summit is said to have been built by the monk Gyoki in the Tenpyo period (730). The eleven-faced Kannon statue inside the Kannon Hall is a masterpiece from the Kamakura period. There are also many cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, and maples, and the strangely shaped rocks around the summit are so beautiful they are reminiscent of a landscape painting from the Southern School of Painting. The view of the Geiyo Islands and the Shikoku Mountains from the "Koshikakeiwa" rock, from which General Nogi is said to have cheered at the surrounding scenery when he climbed the mountain in 1906, is magnificent.