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Nara

Japan's ancient capital delivers on culture

About Nara
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Todaiji
Nara
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Todaiji

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Around Nara

Nara City

Nara City

Nara City (奈良市) is the capital of Nara Prefecture located in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern pa...

Nara
Sakurai

Sakurai

Sakurai city is located in a fairly rural part of Nara prefecture, in the central east near Mie Prefecture, and is famous for...

Nara
Tenri

Tenri

Tenri is a small city located just to the south of Nara city and is noted for being the location of the headquarters of Tenri...

Nara
Gose

Gose

Gose city was formed in 1958, has an estimated population of 33,000 people. Some of the more notable locations in Gose includ...

Nara
Ikoma

Ikoma

Ikoma is in the northwestern part of Nara Prefecture and is noted for Mt Ikoma, the mountain range which divides Osaka from N...

Nara
Yamato-Koriyama

Yamato-Koriyama

Yamato-Koriyama in western Nara is home to one of the few castle ruins in the Nara area, and the remains can be seen just wes...

Nara
Kashihara

Kashihara

Kashihara is located in the middle of the prefecture, directly south of Nara city, and is the second largest city in the pref...

Nara
Yamato Takada

Yamato Takada

Inhabited since ancient times, the city area nurtured paddy field agriculture in the fertile Nara Basin since its pre-history...

Nara

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Mt. Yoshino's Ryokan Kato

Mt. Yoshino's Ryokan Kato

Bryan Baier

Ryokan Kato on Mt. Yoshino in Nar is a historic Japanese Inn that far exceeds the expectations one imagines when planning the...

Nara

Latest Nara Reports

Nara Ikimono Museum

Nara Ikimono Museum

Kim

The Japanese word ikimono translates to living creatures in English, and the soon-to-open Nara Ikimono Museum will allow visi...

Nara
Nara Kingyo Museum

Nara Kingyo Museum

Elena Lisina

The unique goldfish Nara Kingyo Museum is dedicated to the ancient art of goldfish breeding and the artistic presentation of ...

Nara
Kashihara Jingu

Kashihara Jingu

Gary Luscombe

Kashihara Jingu is a shrine dedicated to the very first Emperor of Japan and sits close to where his palace is thought to hav...

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About Nara

Nara
Okinawa Nagasaki Fukuoka Saga Kumamoto Kagoshima Miyazaki Oita Ehime Kochi Tokushima Kagawa Yamaguchi Hiroshima Okayama Tottori Shimane Hyogo Kyoto Osaka Wakayama Nara Shiga Mie Fukui Ishikawa Toyama Gifu Aichi Nagano Shizuoka Niigata Yamanashi Kanagawa Tokyo Saitama Gunma Tochigi Chiba Ibaraki Fukushima Miyagi Yamagata Iwate Akita Aomori Hokkaido
Region Kansai
Island Honshu
Capital Nara
Population 1,400,728
Area 3,690.94 sq. km

Japan’s first permanent capital from AD 710 to 794 (known then as Heijo), as well as the site of the ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, it goes without saying that Nara Prefecture (奈良県, Nara-ken) is filled with history and culture.

Nara is renowned for its many prestigious temples, led by Todai-ji (home of the Nara Great Buddha) and Horyu-ji, the oldest wooden building in the world. The lesser-known Asuka Temple is considered to be the oldest temple in Japan, constructed in AD 588. The traditional performing art of Daimokutate is performed every October 12th and is a sight to behold.

One of the most iconic sights of Nara is Nara Park; in addition to it containing Todai-ji, Kofuku-ji, and Kasuga Shrine, it is famous for its roaming deer - visitors can even feed them! The town of Yoshino is arguably the best spot in Japan for cherry blossom viewing. 

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