A MONTH IN JAPAN - NARA, NOVEMBER 20, 2025

Good morning, Nara!  We could spend only one full day here, and there was a lot to see.  Having no time to waste, we turned to the Lonely Planet Japan Guide for a brief history of the city and a suggested walking tour of the main sites.

As noted in the Japan Guide:

Nara was named Japan’s first permanent capital in 710, ending a tradition whereby the imperial court relocated each time an emperor died.  The Nara period was hugely influential, absorbing influences from China and laying the foundations of Japanese culture, but it lasted just 75 years.  The rapid ascension of Nara’s Buddhist establishment spooked the imperial government, and so the capital was moved to Kyoto, which in turn spared Nara from the destructive wars of later centuries. 

The Japan Guide recommended the best part of a day to complete its six-kilometer walking tour, starting at Kintetsu Nara Station, where we had arrived by train from Kyoto the previous day.  We took the bus from our oddly named Nara Top Sights 5 to 20 Minute Walk apartment into town, observing a significant number of Nara’s sacred deer browsing in the parkland along the way. 

From the train station, it was a short walk past modern administrative buildings to our first stop—Isuien Garden, designated a place of scenic beauty by the Japanese government under its “Cultural Properties Protection Law.”

• Isuien Garden

The most complete information on the garden is found on its official site.   

Isuien consists of two types of gardens, designed in two different time periods.  The front garden was designed in the early Edo Period (1670’s) by Kiyosumi Dosei, a dealer in high-quality fabric used in samurai official attire.  It is intimate in scale and includes several tea houses, a small pond with waterfall, and what now houses the Information Center, all surrounded on three sides by a stone wall.   

The back garden was designed by Seki Tojiro, a businessman from the Meiji Era (early 20^th century), and it is by contrast quite large and open.  It includes another tea house, a large pond, a stream with a waterwheel house, and strolling paths along the stream.

The walled front garden’s isolation from the city creates a sense of seclusion and quiet formality appropriate for the tea ceremony Kiyosumi loved.  The back garden’s topography and view to the distant horizon are conducive to contemplation and the composition of poetry favored by Seki.  Adding to the illusion of vast space here is the use of miniature dwarf pines in the middle ground that create the optical illusion of much larger trees.  

The streams and waterfalls that run through both gardens muffle urban noise and offer visual movement and, in the case of the man-made ponds, a reflection of the landscape.   

Isuien uses the Japanese garden design technique of shakkei, borrowed scenery.  In this case, the borrowed scenery is composed of three of Nara’s cherished mountains and the main gate of the Todai-ji temple, below.   

Our next stop on the walk was Todai-ji Temple, whose main gate, Nandai-mon we had glimpsed in the distance from Isuien Garden.

• Nandai-mon

Nandai-mon was built at the end of the 12th c. and has the distinction of being the largest temple gate in Japan. It did indeed dwarf those passing through its portals.

Not the least bit dwarfed, however, were the dancing Nio, temple guardians built at around the same time as the gate, standing tall at 8.5 meters (28 ft) on the other side.  

This visitor was dressed as his own kind of dancing guardian of Japanese culture.

Nandai-mon Gate was where we got up close and personal with Nara’s sacred deer.  More on them later.  The gate led to the main attraction, the Great Buddha Hall of the Todai-ji Temple Complex.

 

• Todai-ji Temple Complex 

Todai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex founded in the year 738 CE but not opened until 752 CE, when the giant bronze statue of the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) was installed and revealed to the public. 

This video gives you an idea of the scale of the complex and the Great Buddha Hall.  

 

Todai-ji is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the historic monuments of ancient Nara.  Below is a model of the complex in an earlier iteration.  The two pagodas no longer remain and have been replaced with a smaller, gilded one seen below.

 

• Daibutsu-den

The main building in the complex is the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), pictured below.  

According to Wiki:

The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admired Tang dynasty…. The temple has undergone several reconstructions, including one … in 1181 … which included the … strengthening of visible pillars.  Since then, one of the most significant reconstruction[s] (that of the Great Buddha Hall) took place in 1709. However, it was on the verge of collapse in the late 19th century due to the weight of its huge roof. The collapse was prevented through a first restoration (1904–1913), and its current appearance was completed using steel framing between 1974 and 1980.  The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu. 

• The Daibutsu 

Again from Wiki:

According to records kept by Tōdai-ji, more than 2,600,000 people in total helped construct the Great Buddha and its Hall, contributing rice, wood, metal, cloth, or labour, with 350,000 working directly on the statue's construction. The 16 m (52 ft) high [and 92 ft wide at the shoulders] statue was built through eight castings over three years, the head and neck being cast together as a separate element. The making of the statue was started first in Shigaraki. After enduring multiple fires and earthquakes, the construction was eventually resumed in Nara in 745, and the Buddha was finally completed in 751. A year later, in 752, the [temple's opening ceremony] was held with an attendance of 10,000 monks and 4,000 dancers to celebrate the completion of the Buddha…. The project cost Japan greatly, as the statue used much of Japan's bronze and relied entirely on imported gold. 48 lacquered cinnabar pillars, 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in diameter and 30 m (98 ft) long, support the blue tiled roof of the Daibutsu-den. 

Todai-ji Temple records say the Daibutsu weighs 500 Tons and has 966 curls on its head.  Its golden halo measures 27 meters (87 ft) in diameter and has 16 smaller Buddhas sitting on lotus throne clouds around the head in various manifestations of the deity.  Wiki says:

Using x-rays, a human tooth, along with pearls, mirrors, swords, and jewels have been discovered inside the knee of the Great Buddha; these are believed to be the relics of Emperor Shomu [who commissioned the statue].

Now for the Big Boy himself. 

In addition to the Daibutsu, there are other gigantic statues and architectural elements of interest inside the Great Hall, including the golden Kokuzo Bosatsu and the fierce warrior temple guardians below. 

There was also a goshuin service in the Great Hall where I got this stamp for my goshuincho book.

Following our Japan Guide itinerary, we exited to the east of Daibutsu-den and headed up the hill to Nigatsu-do for views over the Nara plain from the veranda of a small temple chock-a-block with bronze and silk lanterns, amulets,  and other devotional items and literature.  We peeked into a small shrine and then had a quick lunch of soba noodles before continuing on to Kasuga-taisha.

• Nigatsu-do 

• Nara Park and its Sacred Deer

  The sites on our walk were all located in Nara Park, home of Nara’s sacred deer.  After leaving Nigatsu-do, on our way to Kasuga-taisha, we passed many deer along the way.  The Japan Guide tells their story--and ours:

  Nara-koen, a park at the foot of Wakakusa-yama, contains within its verdant folds many of Nara’s top sights.  These include Nara’s 1200 or so silka deer, who despite the rarefied grandeur of the realm they inhabit, are (whisper it) the main attraction for most travelers.  In fact, the deer themselves are designated a national treasure, and boy do they know it. Unerringly tame, some have learned to bow in return for shika-sembei, the deer crackers sold from vendors (a mix of wheat flour and rice bran), while others---the pushier treasures—tug and nibble at your clothes.  Deer-tourist relations are mostly harmonious, but accidents happen—avoid teasing the deer when feeding, and if you want to be left alone, hold your hands up to show they are empty.  

  Though you’ll see them on the street almost as soon as you exit Kintetsu-Nara Station, the free-roaming deer are sacred to Kasuga-taisha, a shrine in the east of the park.  One of the deities enshrined there is said to have ridden to Nara on a sacred white deer, and ever since the deer of Nara have been protected as helpers of the gods.  Though perhaps not divine, they are special—scientists have discovered Nara Park’s deer possess a unique genotype not seen in other herds, reflecting their thousand-plus years of protection.

  Seeing deer crackers for sale, we bought some.  I made the mistake of displaying my entire package of crackers, which caused the deer to head-butt me, leading me to freak out and put my hands up and scream, "See?  I have nothing for you!" 

  

  
  

  
  My husband kept his package hidden and had a more successful experience, exchanging bows with the deer.  Hands intact, we moved on to the shrine.
  
  
• Kasuga-taisha

Kasuga Shrine, which the Japan Guide calls "a vermilion beacon of color," and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest near it, are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara".  Excerpted from Wiki:

Kasuga-taisha is a Shinto shrine… of the Fujiwara family, established in 768 CE and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up to the shrine, [over 3,000 in all and all donated by followers of the Shinto sect]. 

  

An entire hall is devoted to [the bronze lanterns], known as Fujinami-no-ya Hall. 

The shrine complex is protected by four cloisters and contains a main sanctuary, treasure house, several different halls, and large gates. … The Torii at Kasuga-taisha is one of the oldest in Shinto and helped influence the style of Torii seen across much of Japan.  

Kasuga-taisha…continues the tradition of … the regular rebuilding of shrines. This is a tradition based on the tokowaka concept of Shinto, in which objects are renewed in order to keep their divine prestige in pursuit of eternity. … Kasuga-taisha has been rebuilding its shrines to the same specifications every 20 years for more than 1000 years since the Nara period, with the most recent reconstruction being the 60th rebuilding in 2016. 

Kasugayama Primeval Forest is primeval forest of about 250 hectares (620 acres) near the summit of Kasugayama (498 metres (1,634 ft)), and contains 175 kinds of trees, 60 bird types, and 1,180 species of insects. In this area adjacent to Kasuga Grand Shrine, hunting and logging have been prohibited since 841 CE. Because Kasugayama has long been tied to Kasuga Grand Shrine worship, it is regarded as a sacred hill. The forest backdrop of the Kasuga Grand Shrine's buildings today has been unchanged since the Nara period.

Before leaving the shrine, I got a goshuin for my collection.

As the Japan Guide directed, we left the shrine by the south gate and continued to the sub-shrine Wakamiya-jinja, where we admired a replica of a golden folding screen by Edo-period artist Kano Ryusetsu.  

As we passed through the primeval forest, we saw along the way what looked like a shingle roof made of hundreds of emas (wooden prayer tablets), several small shrines painted vermilion, moss-covered stone lanterns, Torii, as well as --what else?--more roaming, browsing deer.

 

   

  

Channeling her own animal experience at the exit from the park was this woman wearing a pair of furry Crocs, the footwear of choice among Japanese young women. 

• The Five-story Pagoda that Wasn’t

The last stop on our itinerary was the Five-story Pagoda, part of Kofuku-ji Temple.  Unfortunately, the pagoda was closed for renovation and completely encased in scaffolding and shrouded in plastic sheeting.  This image from the Internet describes what we found: "The five-story pagoda is currently undergoing restoration work!"

To find out what we missed, I later turned to the Internet. Impressive!

We had to settle instead for a view of the Nara National Museum and Buddhist Art Library on our way back to the train station and our bus home.

We would go back into town later for dinner, as the Japan Guide said there was an entertainment district with small restaurants behind the station.  There was such an area, after a fashion, but dinner was unmemorable, so no food porn in this post.  It was only a minor disappointment, though.  A kaiseki dinner awaited us at our Buddhist monastery stay in Koyasan the next evening, and the mysterious beauty of those bronze lanterns at Katsuga-taisha made up for any and all missed opportunities of the day.

Keep it real!

Marilyn