Spots in Nara
Each spot shows when its facts were last checked against official sources.
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- No photo yetTenkawa, NaraDorogawa Onsen Visitor CenterA day-use hot spring opened on April 25, Reiwa 6, in place of the former Dorogawa Onsen Center, with indoor and open-air baths heated by a wood boiler using local thinned timber, plus local products and tourist information.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetSakurai, NaraHase-dera TempleA temple said to date from 686, whose main hall on stilts (a National Treasure) was rebuilt by Tokugawa Iemitsu; the covered stairway of 399 steps to the hall, hung with oval lanterns, is lined with peonies from late April to early May.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetNara, NaraHeijo Palace SiteThe site of the palace at the heart of Heijo-kyo, the capital from 710; restored buildings such as the First Imperial Audience Hall and Suzaku Gate stand across the grounds, and Suzakumon Hiroba (2018) offers guidance, food and shops.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetNara, NaraHiraso Nara Shop (Kakinoha-zushi)The Nara shop of Hiraso, a maker of kakinoha-zushi (sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves) founded in the Bunkyu era, near Sarusawa Pond in Naramachi; serves the sushi, tea gruel and Miwa somen, and offers a hands-on kakinoha-zushi class.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetIkaruga, NaraHoryu-ji TempleSaid to have been founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku and Empress Suiko, the world's oldest surviving group of wooden buildings; the Five-storey Pagoda, Golden Hall and Yumedono are National Treasures. A World Heritage site since 1993.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: Saigen Jiro / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (resized)Asuka, NaraIshibutai Kofun, AsukaA 6th-century tomb built from 30 huge stones, one of Japan's largest stone chambers, left bare after its earth mound was lost; the heaviest ceiling stone weighs about 77 tonnes, and it is widely thought to be the tomb of Soga no Umako.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: 663highland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5 (resized)Nara, NaraIsuien GardenA strolling pond garden of about 11,000 m² next to Todai-ji, in two parts: the front garden by an Edo-period merchant and the rear garden (Meiji period) that borrows Mt. Wakakusa and Todai-ji's Great South Gate as scenery; the Neiraku Museum is inside.Official check: 26 Sept 2026- No photo yetNara, NaraKasuga Taisha ShrineA shrine whose halls were built here in 768, with vermilion buildings and countless stone lanterns donated over the centuries; famous for wisteria, it has a treasure hall and a Manyo botanical garden, backed by the protected Kasugayama Primeval Forest. Part of the World Heritage site.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetNara, NaraKofuku-ji TempleHead temple of the Hosso sect and the Fujiwara clan temple, moved here in 710; its Central Golden Hall was rebuilt in 2018 after about 300 years, and the National Treasure Museum holds many masterpieces of Buddhist sculpture. Part of the World Heritage site.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: Naokijp / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)Nara, NaraMt. WakakusaA gentle 342 m hill covered in lawn, also called Mt. Mikasa for its three rounded tiers, with views over the Great Buddha Hall and Nara Park; its night view was chosen as one of Japan's three new great night views, and the grass is burned every early spring.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: Tawashi2006 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.1 JP (resized)Yoshino, NaraMt. YoshinoA ridge of about 8 km at the north end of the Omine range, famous for some 30,000 cherry trees that bloom in turn from Shimo-senbon up to Oku-senbon from early to late April; it was a sacred place of mountain ascetics and the seat of the Southern Court.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: Martin Falbisoner / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)Nara, NaraNara ParkA vast park about 4 km east to west on the east side of Nara, taking in the grounds of Kasuga Taisha, Kofuku-ji and Todai-ji, where about 1,300 deer roam among lawns and old pines.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
Photo: 663highland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5 (resized)Nara, NaraNaramachiThe area around the former grounds of Gango-ji, lined with townhouses from the Edo to Meiji periods; "Naramachi" is not an official place name. It has small museums such as the Naramachi Koshi-no-Ie lattice house.Official check: 26 Sept 2026- No photo yetNara, NaraTodai-ji Temple (Great Buddha)A temple founded at the wish of Emperor Shomu in the Nara period, home of the Great Buddha (Rushana Buddha) whose eye-opening ceremony was held in 752; its many National Treasure buildings include the Great Buddha Hall and Nigatsu-do. Part of the World Heritage "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara".Official check: 26 Sept 2026
- No photo yetNara, NaraToshodai-ji TempleA temple founded in 759 by the Chinese monk Jianzhen (Ganjin) after years of hardship reaching Japan; unlike most great Nara temples it was a private temple, and its Golden Hall and Lecture Hall are National Treasures. Part of the World Heritage site.Official check: 26 Sept 2026