Hannya-ji
The Cosmos Temple on the Old Kyoto Road, with a Kamakura Stone Pagoda in the Middle
A temple on the hill north of Todai-ji, known in Nara as the cosmos temple: about 150,000 cosmos ...
Kimpusen-ji
Yoshino's Zao-do Hall and the Blue Zao Gongen, Shown Only in Spring and Autumn
The head temple of Kimpusen Shugen Honshu, a Shugendo school, halfway up Mount Yoshino. Its main ...
Yata-dera
A Jizo Temple in the Hills West of Yamato-Koriyama, Under 10,000 Hydrangeas in June
Properly Kongosen-ji, a temple halfway up Yatasan in the Yata hills west of Yamato-Koriyama, know...
Enjo-ji
Unkei's First Signed Statue in a Quiet Hill Temple East of Nara
A temple in Ninnikusen, in the hills east of Nara city on the old Yagyu road, with a late Heian p...
Michi-no-Eki Nara Rekishi Geijutsu Bunkamura
Watch cultural treasures being restored in Tenri
Few roadside stations let you watch conservators at work. At this prefectural culture village in ...
Hozan-ji
Ikoma Shoten, a Temple Under a Cliff Reached by Japan's Oldest Cable Car
A working temple of prayer halfway up Mount Ikoma, where people come to ask Kangiten, known local...
Jiko-in
A Tea Master's Temple Where the Entry Fee Buys a Bowl of Matcha and a View over the Yamato Basin
A small Zen temple in Yamato-Koriyama built in 1663 by the tea master and local lord Katagiri Sek...
Matsuo-dera
A Hilltop Temple West of Yamato-Koriyama That Calls Itself Japan's Oldest for Warding Off Bad Luck
A Shingon temple on Mount Matsuo at the south end of the Yata hills, which by its own account was...
Takamatsuzuka Tomb
The Asuka Tomb Whose Painted Women Started an Archaeology Boom in 1972, with a Mural Museum Next Door
A small round tomb from the late 7th or early 8th century where painted murals of court women and...
Chogosonshi-ji
The Tiger Temple of Mount Shigi, Home Ground of Bishamonten and the Shigisan Engi Scrolls
A sprawling temple on Mount Shigi in Heguri, given over to Bishamonten and to tigers: legend says...
Imai-cho
A Moated Temple Town Turned Merchant Town, Where People Still Live in the Edo-Period Houses
An old merchant town in Kashihara where roughly 1,500 buildings fill an area about 600 m by 310 m...
Ishibutai Kofun
A Bare Stone Burial Chamber in Asuka You Can Walk Into, Widely Thought to Be the Tomb of Soga no Umako
An early 7th-century burial chamber of about 30 huge stones whose earth mound has worn away, leav...
Kairyuo-ji
A Four-Metre Five-Storey Pagoda Kept Indoors Since the Nara Period, Next Door to Hokke-ji
A small temple in the north-east corner of what was Empress Komyo's palace, a couple of minutes f...
Asuka Palace Site
The Field in Asuka Where Soga no Iruka Was Killed in 645, with a Restored Stone Pavement and Well from Emperor Tenmu's Palace
The spot in the middle of Asuka where several 7th-century rulers built their palaces one on top o...
Kashihara Jingu
Emperor Jimmu's Shrine Under Mount Unebi, With a Main Hall From the Kyoto Palace
A shrine to Emperor Jimmu, the legendary first emperor, built in 1890 at the foot of Mount Unebi ...