Hōryū-ji is a sprawling Buddhist temple complex in Nara Prefecture that contains the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. Its most recognizable feature is the five-story pagoda in the Western Precinct, which stands over…
Best of Nara
This journey through Nara showcases monumental temples, serene traditional gardens, and ancient shrines where sacred deer roam.
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1. Hōryū-ji
2. Yakushi-ji
Yakushi-ji is characterized by two distinct pagodas that flank its main hall. The East Pagoda, a dark, weathered National Treasure, is the only wooden structure that remains from the temple's original eighth-century construction. Its…
3. Heijō Palace Site Historical Park
The most striking thing about the Heijō Palace Site Historical Park is its sheer, empty scale. While ancient capitals like Kyoto or Tokyo remain dense with centuries of growth, this site is a vast, open field of roughly one square…
4. Kōfuku-ji
Kōfuku-ji is defined by its five-story pagoda, which reaches fifty meters into the sky and stands as the second-tallest wooden pagoda in Japan. Founded in six hundred sixty-nine and moved to Nara in seven hundred ten, this temple complex…
5. Nara National Museum
The Nara National Museum stands out for its original exhibition building, a striking piece of French Renaissance-style architecture designed by Katayama Tokuma and completed in eighteen ninety-four. This Meiji-period structure, now an…
6. Isuien Garden and Neiraku Museum
Isuien Garden is a landscape defined by the technique of borrowed scenery, where the Southern Gate of Todaiji Temple and the slopes of Mount Wakakusa are visually pulled into the garden's own composition. The site is divided into two…
7. Tōdai-ji
Tōdai-ji is defined by the massive, weathered wooden presence of its Great Buddha Hall, which houses a bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana standing nearly fifty feet tall. Established in the eighth century under Emperor Shōmu, this…
8. Kasugataisha Shrine
Kasuga Taisha is defined by thousands of lanterns that line its approach and crowd its interior corridors. This Shinto shrine, nestled against the base of Mount Mikasa, was founded in seven sixty-eight by the Fujiwara clan to serve as…
9. Nara Park
Nara Park is an expansive public landscape at the foot of Mount Wakakusa, defined by its population of over one thousand wild sika deer that roam freely among ancient temple grounds. Established in eighteen eighty, the park serves as the…