Trip to the Kii Peninsula VI – Nara

A cat sign in Nara-machi. Evident everywhere we went is
that this is a city that loves cats.

It has been my intention to put all the photos from our trip on my blog since we got back last May (!!!!) and here it is February that I am finally getting around to the last segment of our trip to the Kii Peninsula. As I am sure is evident in the decreasing number of blog posts, it is difficult to make time to blog when work and house and garden are all vying for attention. But better late than never, and I really do want to have these photos kept somewhere to remember this trip by. (Next up will be to finish photos from our trip to Hokkaido 2016.... already two years ago, oh dear.) Anyway, the first five segments of our trip can be found here: (1) (2) (3) (3.5) (4) (5)

We took the JR train from Shingu around the Kii peninsula to Osaka (back to the very train station that started our trip off to Mount Koya) and transferred trains to Nara, arriving in the afternoon. Our first night in Nara was at the JR hotel, which had the benefit of being very conveniently located right next to the train station (although our real motivation for staying there was to have one more night with an onsen hot spring, as our last two nights would not.) We dropped our bags and headed off to meander around Nara-machi, a section of town known for its traditional old-style merchant houses, now essentially filled with boutique shops and cafes. We passed galleries and shops specialising in textiles, glass, paper arts, and shops selling narazuke pickles (the pickle of Nara: as it has long been an area with lots of sake breweries, the vegetables are pickled and aged in sake lees (the by-product of making sake) and have a very distinctive taste.) It is a fun area to walk around and apart from a visit to the traditional craft museum we spent most of our afternoon just wandering the streets of Nara-machi. Of course now that our trip was coming to an end it was time to start thinking about souvenirs!


Typical Nara-machi street

Nara's man-hole covers: featuring deer, of course.

Typical Nara scene: both the old and new.

Our second day in Nara we checked out of the JR hotel and took our bags to the Guesthouse Nara Backpackers hostel to check in and leave our bags before we headed out again to explore. The Guesthouse is an old traditional house which has been converted into a guesthouse with dorms as well as private rooms, located very conveniently within walking distance to Nara Park. The building and gardens had a lot of character and we really enjoyed our stay. But first, it was off to the Heijō Palace Remains.



The picturesque entry to Guesthouse Nara Backpackers

First of many deer sightings on our way to the station as we
headed out to Heijō Palace.

Reconstructed Heijō Palace, of which the grounds are are an enormous park.

Gate at Heijō Palace with the biscuit we got at the JR hotel for
bringing our own toothbrush.

Nara was briefly the capital of Japan for about 75 years between 710 and 784 and the Heijō Palace remains is, as it sounds, the site of where the Imperial palace used to be during this time. When the capital moved to Kyoto the palace grounds were abandoned and eventually decayed until most of the structures above ground had disappeared by the year 1300, although as we learned the underground portions were well preserved so that archaeologists have been able to reconstruct the site.


The grounds and buildings of Heijō Palace grounds are still being reconstructed and so far only a couple structures are completed, being the palace and a couple impressive gates. It is a huge area, the palace is located within a huge field with walking and bicycle paths running through it and takes quite a while just to walk from the museum to the palace to the gate at the other side of the park.

Passing by a canal. We saw turtles :)

From Heijō Palace we walked to two nearby major temples, Tōshōdai-ji and Yakushiji Temple. Tōshōdai-ji was founded in 759 by a Buddhist monk from China, Ganjin, and is notable for being a temple within the small Risshu sect of Buddhism. It is famous for several buildings which were built during the Nara period (710 to 784), including the Lecture Hall, which was originally an administrative building at the Heijo Palace until it was dismantled and moved from its original location. It is the only remaining structure from the Heijo palace grounds. Another structure of note is the Hōzō (Treasure House) which contains several National Treasures. These are not open to the public, of course, but the architecture of the old buildings is amazing and the temple grounds and gardens were serene and peaceful to walk through. Ganjin's burial mound is also at Tōshōdai-ji, in a quiet, mossy grove.

Toshodai-ji Kon-do (Main Hall)

Path through the trees at Tōshōdai-ji

New building above an iris-filled pond

Irises in bloom in late May

Walkways lined with azaleas

Burial mound of Buddhist monk Ganjin

From Tōshōdai-ji we walked a short distance to Yakushiji Temple through quiet residential neighborhoods. We were surprised to pass by a couple small rice fields: even though it was a quiet area, it was still surprising to find cultivated land in the middle of the city.

One of the neighborhoods we walked through on our way from
Toshodaiji to Yakushiji

A field in the middle of the city..

Gate at Yakushiji Temple

Like Tōshōdai-ji, Yakushiji Temple has an impressively long history: originally built in the year 680 but moved to its current site in 718 and is the headquarters of Hossō Buddhism in Japan. Most of the buildings at the temple were destroyed by fire in 1528 with only the original East Pagoda and East Temple remaining. Fortunately the Buddha statues at the temple also survived the fires (though they turned black they became "brighter than before", as they say.) The hall was rebuilt around 1600 but fell into disrepair, so in 1968 the temple began raising donations to build a new hall to enshrine the Buddha statues, completed in 1976. It seems to have been a massive undertaking with faithful reproductions of architecture of the original building. From this restoration there are also more than one million copies of sutras stored as offerings to the Buddha in the Main Hall!

Yakushiji Temple

The original East Pagoda

Main Hall

It was a bit of an odd visit for us to Yakushiji Temple as there was a huge event going on at the same time, and it felt a bit awkward to be a tourist amidst a very large religious gathering. We hurried through most of the buildings, with the exception of a bonsai display, which we were able to enjoy a little more leisurely. There were the most beautiful azalea bonsai we have ever seen.

Mountain azalea bonsai

Genjō-sanzōin (Xuanzang Hall) where the bonsai display was

Azalea bonsai with two different colored flowers

From Yakushiji we took a break from the cultural activities and took the train back downtown and went to our very first animal-themed cafe. In this instance: an owl cafe. (Much to our surprise, Nara actually has two different owl cafes.) After being introduced, you were allowed to pat some of the owls on the head - very gently - with one finger. Under supervision you were also allowed to hold some of the owls. (The bigger owls, of course, were not to be touched nor held.)  The birds were also trained that they would only be touched if they were sitting on a perch, so if they had had enough of human contact and wanted a break they would just hop down. (You also were not allowed to touch the owls if they had their eyes closed.) Personally I did not have a whole lot of interest in actually petting or holding the owls: I wanted to just walk around and take photos of them, having never been so close to owls before.

Nearby the owl cafe we also stopped at a famous mochi establishment. Every five or ten minutes they would open the doors, the tourists would flock, and they would pound the rice mochi. (The fresh mochi was delicious, but very soft and difficult to eat.) How to describe mochi? If you google it it will say "rice cake", although it is not really like cake at all. Actually, if you google "mochi" the first hit that comes up is a video (of the guy in this photo, actually) who describes it much better than I ever could.

Pounding the mochi

Our next day in Nara started first at Tōdaiji temple, perhaps the most famous of all the temples in Nara as it houses the Daibutsu (Great Buddha.) Tōdaiji temple was founded in 752 and is one of Japan's most historicaly significant Buddhist temples, at its founding being the head of all provincial Buddhist temples. I also read that the reason the capital was moved away from Nara was because the temple had grown so powerful and influential. The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) is one of the largest wooden building in the world (was the largest until 1998)--especially amazing considering it burned down several times and was rebuilt two-thirds the size of the original building, most recently in 1709. The Daibutsuden houses the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world, quite easily my favorite sight on our entire trip as it is simply incredible.

School groups in front of the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall)

The Daibutsu. The scale is almost impossible to capture: the middle finger alone
is over a metre long, the height of the seated Buddha (not including the stand) is 15 metres.
Unfortunately with all the school groups we didn't get a very good photo..

To-scale replicas of the lotus petals around the Daibutsu's seat.

One of the Bodhisattvas which flanks the Daibutsu

Wooden guardian Nio statue

One thing always fun to see at Todaiji is people (usually children) crawling through a small hole in one of the pillars. The hole is the same size as the Great Buddha's nostril and being able to pass through is good luck. If it hadn't been such a busy day we might have chanced it (we have seen adults do it), but maybe not in front of what would undoubtedly be a captivated audience. There's always next time!



Wooden guardian Nio statue

Crawling through the nostril

Traditional Japanese architecture

Daibutsuden: The Great Buddha Hall

Leaving Todaiji

Our next stop was to visit two famous gardens: Toshiki-en and Isui-en, both very close to Nara Park. They were both incredibly beautiful gardens. Toshiki-en is divided into three different areas showcasing three types of traditional Japanese gardens: a pond garden, moss garden and tea ceremony garden.

On the way to the gardens

The pond garden at Yoshiki-en

The Yoshiki-en pond garden from the other side

Yoshiki-en teahouse







Borrowed scenery at Isui-en: the main gate of Todaiji in the background

Isui-en Garden is divided into two segments, the front garden and rear garden. While the rear garden was built in 1899 by a wealthy merchant for his visiting guests, the front garden has a longer history dating back to the mid 1600s. The best view at Isui-en was certainly looking across the pond with the 'borrowed scenery' of Todaiji Temple's Nandaimon Gate and Mount Wakakusayama. There is also a museum at Isui-en with a collection of artefacts and artwork from both Japan and China.


After our trip to the gardens we walked through Nara Park and really had a chance to see the famous shika deer Nara is so famous for. They are basically everywhere and it is pretty funny to see them. They are basically everywhere within the park and you can buy a packet of 'shika senbei' (deer crackers) for the low price of 150 yen ($1.50 with a perfect exchange rate) which is the only item visitors are allowed to feed the deer. Of course we decided we might as well buy some and get the full Nara experience. It was ... a little bit scary, actually.

Walking through Nara Park

Moments later the shopkeeper comes out with a broom...



The deer have realised we have shika senbei

Closing in on the target

At this point I think Reid wanted to give the crackers to me but the deer
were not to be swayed

Still wanting more..

Empty hands! See?

All in all, it was a fun experience with the deer -- but once is enough.

You could spend an entire day walking around Nara Park, which is basically what we did. There are a number of different shrines and temples there, some within the Todaiji Temple as well as other shrines. We spent a bit of time at Nigatsudo Hall, which sits atop a hill overlooking the rest of the temple buildings of Todaiji as well as a spectacular view of the rest of the city. Nigatsudo Hall is also a popular spot for tourists to visit in the evening, as the lanterns light up at night.



Nigatsudo Hall at Todaiji

Overlooking different temple structures of Todaiji at Nigatsudo Hall



Lanterns lining the eaves at Nigatsudo Hall

Walkway up to Nigatsudo Hall

Nigatsudo Hall at Night

Evening view from Nigatsudo Hall

Our last morning in Nara was spent in Nara Park, this time going to Kasuga Taisha. It was another really hot day (it had been unseasonably warm for a lot of our trip) and we borrowed umbrellas from the Guesthouse to use as parasols to try to shield us from the heat. It was also good to be in the park and get away from as much concrete as possible.



Lunch café: we had soba noodles and vegetable tempura

Lanterns lining the walkways on the approach to Kasuga Taisha

One of Nara's other extremely famous sites is Kasuga Taisha (Kasuga Grand Shrine), also located in Nara Park. The shrine was founded at the same time as the city and enshrines the deity which protects the city, which accounts for it being the most important shrine in the city. Kasuga Taisha also followed the Shinto custom of being dismantled and rebuilt every 20 years, although this practice ended in the mid 1800s at the end of the Edo period.

Kasuga Taisha is most famous for all the lanterns which have been donated by worshippers: stone lanterns around the exterior and bronze lanterns inside, which are only lit twice a year during lantern festivals in February and August. (Next time, perhaps we will coordinate our trip to Nara during one of these times, as it would be an amazing sight.)



Wooden offerings which can be bought and inscribed upon
and left at the shrine

Meoto Daikokusha, one of the auxiliary shrines at Kasuga Taisha.
This shrine is said to bring fortune for love and matchmaking.
I like that there is an orange tree over the gate.

1,000 year old sugi cedar tree

One thousand year old cedar

Stopping for some ice cream as we walked out of the park...
the deer had the same thing in mind, apparently.

So that pretty much sums up our trip to Nara. Deer, temples, shrines, and more deer -- we even saw a few fireflies at night. (One of the other people staying at the Guesthouse saw a wild boar in the park, but we did not.) I really enjoyed our trip to Nara, and would love to go back: especially during cherry blossom season or in the autumn for the turning colors.

Even the deer were trying to escape the heat