Above Osaka - Shigisan

At the end of the Nishi-Shigi cable car is Takayasusan station [高安山駅], a public toilet, one vending machine, a hiking trail and a bus station. Not much up there to see fit that a cable car should be built there. I hiked south along the trail eventually heading down the mountain back to Onji station.

Along the path I came across a sprawling cemetery complex. Many mountaintops have been covered with the stones we use to remember our ancestors here. The cost and scarcity of land for such a staid purpose in the city has created these giant cemetery complexes in the mountains. My father-in-law's resting place is in a similar cemetery in the mountains above Nishinoimiya.Besides the cemetery I came across three gloriously retro-due-to-age observation towers which offered similar views of Osaka below.

A sign greeting visitors to the Takayasusan Cemetery.

Takayasusan station.

Beginning of the hiking train leading south from Takayasusan station.

A viewing tower along the hiking path near Takayasusan Station.

From this tower you can look across Osaka to the bay, or, on the other side, look upon a sea of gravestones.