Rakan-ji Gohyaku Rakan
Five Hundred Stone Arhats in Rock-Cut Caves, Carved for the Silver Miners of Iwami Ginzan
Two caves cut into a rock face across the stream from Rakan-ji in Omori, each holding 250 small s...
Saidai-ji
Three Minutes from Yamato-Saidaiji Station, a Temple Where Tea Is Passed Round in a Giant Bowl
Once the western counterpart of Todai-ji, now a set of Edo-period halls three minutes from a busy...
Akishino-dera
A Small Temple of Moss in Northwest Nara, Kept for Japan's Only Old Gigeiten Statue
A quiet temple a short bus ride north of Yamato-Saidaiji, with a National Treasure main hall from...
Shin-Yakushi-ji
Twelve Clay Generals from the 8th Century, in a Quiet Lane Below Mount Takamado
A small temple in the Takabatake district, south of Kasuga Taisha, with one Nara-period hall and ...
Abe Monju-in
Kaikei's 7-Metre Monju on a Lion, Abe no Seimei's Hall and a Cosmos Maze in Sakurai
A temple of the Abe clan south of Sakurai Station. The main hall holds a group of five National T...
Hokke-ji
Empress Komyo's Nunnery, Where the Eleven-faced Kannon Comes Out Three Times a Year
A working nunnery on the site of Empress Komyo's palace, just east of the Heijo Palace Site. Its ...
Ikegami Honmon-ji
Where Nichiren Died, and 300,000 People Come on One October Night
Head temple of the Nichiren school on a hill in Ota Ward, built where Nichiren died in 1282. Free...
Ofuna Kannon
A 25-Meter White Kannon Bust Watching Over Ofuna Station
A white concrete bust of Kannon about 25 meters tall on the hill above Ofuna Station, begun in 19...
Nageiredo (Mitokusan Sanbutsuji)
A Heian-Era Hall Set Into a Cliff, Reached by Chains and Tree Roots
The inner hall of Sanbutsuji temple, built on stilts inside a cliff hollow on Mount Mitoku and th...
Okadera
Asuka's Hillside Temple for Warding Off Bad Luck, with Japan's Largest Clay Buddha
A temple on the slope of Mount Oka in Asuka, formally Ryugai-ji, that calls itself Japan's first ...
Byakugo-ji
Stone Steps Up the Foot of Mount Takamado to a View Across Nara, with a 400-Year-Old Camellia
A small hillside temple south-east of central Nara, under a kilometre from Shin-Yakushi-ji, reach...
Chogaku-ji
A Temple on the Yamanobe-no-michi with a Hell Painting on Show from 23 October to 30 November
A quiet temple halfway along the Yamanobe-no-michi in Tenri. From 23 October to 30 November the m...
Jindai-ji
Soba Lunch and an Asuka-Era Bronze Buddha on Tokyo's Western Edge
A temple founded in 733 in wooded Chofu, ringed by soba shops and home to the oldest National Tre...
Shoryaku-ji
A Valley Temple Southeast of Nara Where Refined Sake Began, at Its Best in the November Maples
A mountain temple about 4 km up a valley road from Route 169, where medieval monks worked out the...