Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital (710–784 CE) — the city where the Japanese state consolidated its political and religious identity, constructing enormous Buddhist temple complexes to rival the Tang Dynasty capitals of China. Today Nara is a compact, walkable city 45 minutes from both Kyoto and Osaka, offering the best-preserved concentration of early Japanese Buddhist architecture in existence and over 1,000 semi-wild deer roaming freely through the park.
Todai-ji & the Great Buddha
Todai-ji (Eastern Great Temple, founded 728, current buildings 1709) is the world’s largest wooden building — and it was rebuilt at two-thirds the original scale after fires. The Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall) measures 57m wide, 50m deep, and 49m tall. Inside: the Nara Daibutsu — the Great Buddha of Vairocana — a seated bronze figure 14.98 metres tall, weighing approximately 500 tonnes, cast in 752 CE. The scale is overwhelming in person; the figure’s hand alone is 2.5 metres long. A wooden pillar near the rear has a square hole cut through its base — said to be the same size as the Buddha’s nostril; those who squeeze through are promised enlightenment in the next life (children easily, adults with significant effort). Admission ¥600.
Nara’s Deer
Approximately 1,200 sika deer live freely in Nara Park — considered divine messengers of the Kasuga Taisha shrine since the 8th century and designated a National Natural Monument. The deer have learned to bow (trained by tourists offering shika senbei — deer crackers, sold at stalls throughout the park for ¥200 per bundle). They are genuinely wild animals: confident, persistent, occasionally aggressive around food, and entirely unphased by people. The bowing behavior emerges spontaneously when they learn it produces crackers. Early morning (before 08:00) when tourists are absent, large groups of deer browse the park’s lawns under ancient trees in an extraordinarily peaceful scene.
Nara Park & Surroundings
Nara Park is a 660-hectare public space encompassing Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, Kofuku-ji, and several museums. Kofuku-ji (Fujiwara clan temple, founded 669) has the second-tallest pagoda in Japan (50m five-story, a National Treasure) and exceptional Buddhist sculpture collections in the National Treasure Hall. The Nara National Museum holds the finest collection of early Japanese Buddhist art outside temple repositories. Isuien Garden (Meiji-era garden using Todai-ji’s roof and Mt. Wakakusa as borrowed scenery) is one of Japan’s finest small gardens and largely unknown to foreign visitors.
- Nara is 45 minutes from Kyoto (JR Nara Line, ¥720) or Osaka-Namba (Kintetsu, 35 minutes, ¥680).
- Kakinoha-zushi (mackerel or salmon sushi wrapped in persimmon leaf) and mochi are the essential Nara foods.
- Mt. Wakakusa (342m) is burned in the Wakakusa Yamayaki (grass fire) ceremony every January — a 1,300-year tradition visible from across the city.