What you need to know about Nara in Japan

Nara was the capital of Japan many centuries ago. It is one of those ignored cities of Japan that are still worth visiting. Due to its smaller size and its proximity to Kyoto, most tourist won’t visit it.

Nara was the cultural historical capital of Japan. Not only due to its creations of culture in the past, but also to the number of buildings considered National Treasures by the Japanese government. If you want to walk within a traditional Japanese borough, then you should visit Nara. And by traditional, here it is meant with historical building that are many centuries old.

All major touristic sites are within walking distance from downtown. The conventional tourist course (starting at Kintetsu Nara Station to K?fuku-ji, Nara National Museum, Todai ji, Kasuga Taisha or back to the Kintetsu Nara Station) is about only 5 miles long. It is usually a quite pleasant way for most tourists.

If you only have one day to spend, focus just on the Nara Park. It is not that interesting for Japanese tourists, but Western tourists will appreciate it. With some more time, though, there’s much more to see.

Most of Nara’s touristic sights, like its temples, shrines or mercenary deer are concentrated within the Nara Park.

Todai ji is the home to the Daibutsu, the biggest Buddha statue in Japan. It is even one of the biggest in the world. More exactly the Daibutsu-den, that houses it, is known to be the biggest wooden building in the world.

Nara National Museum has one of the world’s largest collections about Buddhist art and it has changing exhibitions.

Kasuga Taisha is worth a visit for the beautiful approach, through the Kasuga Primeval Forest.

And there is more, much more, since Nara is a mainly a touristic city, it has developed many cultural offers in this direction.

The Mount Wakakusa Fire Festival, for example, is a splendid time to visit the city. Amazing fireworks, surrounded by a festivity. Huge wooden temples are built and burnt just for this occasion.

Nara is also known for its writing brushed, the handmade Narafude. They are very rare and expensive, but unique for Japanese calligraphy.