The new NARA Visitor Center & Inn in Nara City opens on Thursday July 23rd. The opening ceremony will begin with a speech from the Governor of Nara Prefecture, Shogo Arai at 2:30pm. Additional opening festivities will include a Sake Barrel Ceremony, known as "Kagami-Biraki" in Japanese, and koto harp recital. Visitors are invited to try their hand at the koto after the recital and visitors over the age of 20 will be offered a wooden sake cup to participate in the Sake Barrel Ceremony.
A casual tea ceremony, presided over by an English speaking tea ceremony master, will be held from 3pm until 5pm, and a "Matsuri Summer Festival" will be held from 3pm until 7pm. The tea ceremony is limited to 150 participants and the Summer Festival, featuring traditional En-nichi foods and games, is limited to 200 participants.
Located next to the Sarusawa Pond a 5-7minute walk for Kintetsu Nara Station or a 10-15 minute walk from JR Nara Station, the NARA Visitor Center & Inn is the foreign traveler's one-stop source for all Nara (and the surrounding area) related travel information. The service counter has multi-lingual staff and provides foreign currency exchange and baggage storage services. An ATM serving overseas cards is also available. The Traveler's Lounge has free Wi-Fi and a no cost computer lab, and two walls full of travel pamphlets and literature. There's also a convenience store in the basement to fulfill any last minute needs.
In addition to travel information and multi-lingual service, the NARA Visitor Center also offers daily walking tours and cultural events, and bus excursions to the Village of Asuka or the Town of Yoshino every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (the inaugural tour will, however be on Friday July 24th). Applications for cultural events, bus excursions and walking tours are available on a first come first served basis and can be made at the reception counter. See you in Nara?
