Sightseeing>Vicinity>Nara
Waking around Nara
Nara was an ancient capital before Kyoto. In 2010, Nara held 1300years anniversary of its foundation. Many special events were carried out and attracted many visitors.
Compared to Kyoto, there are not much to attract visitors from European countries. If you know Buddhism well, Nara is a good place to enjoy the Buddhist culture.
Todai-ji Temple
Todai-ji temple has the world largest wooden hall to house the Great Buddha Statue.
Don't miss a pair of guardian statues situated at both sides of the big gate. They are the masterpieces of Japanese
sculpture in the 13thcentury.
There are many buildings other than the largest wooden hall. Nigatsu-do gives you the city view and Hokke-do has many historically important Buddha statues.
http://www.todaiji.or.jp/ (only in Japanese)
Great Buddha Hall 500yen
Access: It takes about 30-45 minutes-wak from Kyoto to Nara. About 45 minutes from Osaka. You can walk from Kintetsu-Nara Station to Todai-ji temple. It takes 15 minutes to arrive at the gate of the temple. While you walk near Deer Park, you will find many tame deer.
Please be careful not to put paper items in your pockets. Many innocent deer die from mistakingly eating paper and vynals. You can buy "deer cookies" from vendors if you wish to feed them (150yen). Paper straps of cookies are edible for deer.
Kasuga Shinto Shrine
The deer you see in Nara are messengers of gods in Kasuga Shrine. The shrine is located close to Todai-ji temple, but its precinct is huge.
It's interesting to see many stone lanterns are lined up both sides of the passage.
http://www.kasugataisha.or.jp/ (only in Japanese)
Kofuku-ji Temple
If you are interested in Buddhist statues, you can't miss the tresure museum of Kofuku-ji Temple. Even you don't pay for the admission fee to enter, don's miss the five-storied Pagoda.
Admission fee 800 yen
http://www.kohfukuji.com/english.html
Nara machi
South from Kintetsu Nara Station, you find old town, known as Nara machi. There are old Buddhist temples and houses you can visit. The area is quite popular and newly opened shops and restaurants attract visitors.
Geisha also works in this area.
http://narashikanko.jp/j/naramachi/ (only in Japanese)
Horyu-ji Temple
World Oldest Wooden Building from the 8th century.
It is located in the suburbs of Nara. You need to take JR train from Nara to Horyuji. It was designated as Japan's first World Heritage site. It's not worth seeing if you are not intereted Buddhist culture.