Even though there are a lot of places I love in Japan, Nara always feels like home to me. It was the first city I lived near and visited way back when I arrived as a teenager, working as a golf caddy in a mountain area in Kyoto.
There have been other capital cities, prior to Tokyo and Nara was the first permanent capital, established in 710! (The ancient dates I keep running into when reading information about Japan really does my head in!)
Probably the most famous place to go to is Nara Park to see Todaiji and the Great Buddha – Daibutsu.
This is the largest wooden building in the world. Amazingly, the current structure was rebuilt in 1709 and is only two-thirds the size of the original building, which was founded in 745 and took 15 years to construct!
It houses one of the largest bronze figures in the world, Daibutsu. It was originally cast in 746. Not much of the original remains, as bits have been recast over the years.
The present statue, recast in the Edo period, stands just over 16m high and consists of 437 tonnes of bronze and 130kg of gold!
I love the faces on these guardians
Of course, you have to take a moment to be a tourist
Octagonal Lantern at the bottom of the steps, is one of the oldest treasures in the temple dating from the founding of Todaiji.
Nara Park in general is such a great place to walk through. Beautiful wide paths lined with mossy covered stone lanterns lead the way to shrines tucked away here and there through the sprawling area.
At the right time of year, this area is a mass of purple with the wisteria in full bloom (All my photos of this are on film!!)
Of course, no trip to Nara Park is complete without meeting the deer!
As you walk the streets, you may just run into some newly weds!
When you have had enough of the temples and shrines, there are beautiful Japanese gardens to explore
Of course, when nature gets too much you can enjoy the delights of the shopping area – lots of fantastic little shops & arcades without the overwhelming frantic-ness of Tokyo or Osaka
One of the memories we have that makes us chuckle, was looking for a restaurant with a Japanese friend of ours, Yusuke, that had our favourite food – Yaki soba & Okonomiyaki. We were in an information shop asking where to go and we were kidnapped by this fabulous little old lady, who proclaimed herself “The Boss of the Area” and dragged us to this excellent little restaurant and then proceeded to instruct the owner to give us a good deal on our meals!!
Nara is an easy place to miss, as tourists flock to Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima.
I say make the time. There are lots of really interesting places to see in the area and its well worth the effort. Its a little quieter than the big cities and less over-run with tourists.
Hope you have enjoyed a little look.
Cheers
I can’t even begin to fathom how incredible this all is in person! Hopefully someday I will find out. What gets me is how ancient so much of the places people go to are. A friend of mine just made it to Machu Picchu, Peru; I’m having a hard time parsing that that is really him, really there, really having his picture taken by his wife. I sort of feel that way about your sock shop too. ;D
Lovely images, thank you so much for sharing!
ooooo Machu Picchu. That’s on my “I have to go there” list!!
I agree – the incredible age of the history in some places is awe-inspiring!