Nara Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Nara (奈良) [1] is an ancient capital city in the Kansai region of Japan.
Contents |
Understand
Overshadowed by its more famous neighbor Kyoto, Nara is omitted from many a time-pressed tourist's itinerary. However, as Japan's capital during the Nara Period (710-784), Nara is still home to many important scenic and historical sites and today preserves its main sights much more attractively than Kyoto within the large Nara Park. The center of a plain dense with history, the city also makes a good hub for exploring the vicinity.
Get in
By plane
Nara does not have its own airport, so most visitors arrive via Kansai International Airport, or Osaka's Itami Airport.
From Kansai Airport, Airport Limousine buses run to to the two Nara train stations every hour (¥1800, 1 1/2 hours). More frequent service is available by rail: If you have a Japan Rail Pass, you can take the Haruka limited express to Tennoji station and then transfer to the Yamatoji line for the run to Nara (¥2390, no charge with rail pass). Otherwise, it's cheaper to take the Nankai Railway's Kūkō-Kyūkō (空港急行) express train to Shin-Imamiya, and then take the JR Yamatoji line from there (¥1510). Both trips take around 1 1/4 hours with good connections.
Limousine buses connect Itami Airport to the two Nara train stations for ¥1440; the ride takes about one hour.
By train
From Kyoto station, both the JR Nara Line and the private Kintetsu Kyoto line will get you to Nara quickly. The Kintetsu Nara station is better located than the JR Nara station, but unless you want to take an all-reserved Tokkyū (特急) train which leaves twice an hour and runs to Nara in 35 minutes, you will have to change at Yamato Saidaiji for the last hop into town. The trip will cost ¥1100 on the Tokkyū; ¥610 on other trains. For Japan Rail Pass holders, JR's Miyakoji Kaisoku (みやこ路快速) runs from Kyoto to Nara in as little as 41 minutes (¥690, no charge with rail pass).
The fastest route from Osaka is to take the private Kintetsu Nara Line from Namba station. Kaisoku-Kyūkō (快速急行) trains run to Kintetsu Nara in 35 minutes (¥540). For Japan Rail Pass holders, JR runs two Yamatoji Kaisoku (大和路快速) trains each hour from Osaka, Tennoji, and intermediate stations on the Osaka Loop Line. The run to Nara is 44 minutes from Osaka and 31 minutes from Tennoji (¥780 and ¥450 respectively, no charge with rail pass).
By bus
As Nara is a major tourist attraction, there are a good number of buses that run between Nara and other locations throughout Japan, which can result in significant savings when compared to train fares.
The JR Bus Group (Japanese Website) is a major operator of the routes from the Tokyo area to Kansai. Buses to Nara operate via the Tomei Expressway (to/from Tokyo Station), and make a stop at Kyoto Station enroute. Seat reservations for JR Buses can be made in train stations at the same "Midori-no-Madoguchi" ticket windows used to reserve seats on trains.
You can receive a discount of between 10 and 35 percent off the cost of the ticket if reservations are made at least 21 days in advance on most routes.
The Japan Rail Pass is NOT valid on buses running between Tokyo and Nara. However, you can take a bus into Kyoto Station, which is covered under the pass, and change there for rail service on the JR Nara Line for the final run.
The following overnight services are available: (Current as of June 2006)
- The Dream Nara departs Tokyo Station every night at 22:00, with the returning service leaving Nara at 22:10. The cost is ¥8400 one-way and ¥15120 round trip.
- The Seishun Dream Kyoto-Nara departs from Tokyo Station every night at 21:50, with the returning service leaving Nara at from Kyoto at 21:10. This bus costs ¥5000 one-way and ¥9500 round trip. The notable difference is that the Seishun bus uses four-across seating found in standard buses, while the other uses more comfortable and wider three-across seating.
Both of these services reach Nara in about 9 1/2 hours.
Get around
The World Heritage Loop Line Bus Ticket [2] provides unlimited bus rides of the World Heritage Loop Line as well as any commuter lines in the designated area for 800yen (adult) or 400yen (children less than 12 years old) per day.
Once within Nara Park, you can simply walk to almost all the sites.
See
Most of Nara's sights, including temples, shrines and famously mercenary deer, are concentrated in Nara Park (奈良公園 Nara-kōen), a wide, pleasant space of greenery. According to legend, the god of the Kasuga Taisha came riding a white deer in the old days, so people have been protecting the deer as envoys of the god.
Temples & Shrines
Eight of Nara's temples and shrines are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- Tōdaiji temple and the Daibutsu, one of the world's largest Buddha statues, and the largest in Japan, housed in the Daibutsuden.
- Kōfukuji
- Kasuga Taisha
- Yakushiji
- Kasuga-yama Hill Primeval Forest
- Gangō-ji Temple
- Tōshōdai-ji Temple
- Heijō Palace
- Ukimidō. A hexagonal building built on a lake in Nara Park so that it appears to float on water.
Museums
- Nara National Museum, with one of the world's best collections of Buddhist art and changing exhibitions. The National Treasure Hall has an impressive collection of statues. Entrance fee ¥500
- Naramachi, the traditional district of town
- Nara Century Hall, next to JR Nara station. Events, concerts, and musicals. Sometimes a flea market is held in front of the hall.
Do
- Deer-horn Cutting Ceremony, every August. The deer have their horns cut to prevent people from being injured.
- Mount Wakakusa Fire Festival (Wakakusa-yamayaki). On New Year, dry grass on the slopes of this mountain is set on fire by two temples.
- Nara Toka-e is a light festival held in mid-August for approximately 10 days. 7,500 candles illuminate the area around the major temples.
Learn
Work
Buy
A local speciality is narazuke, various vegetables and fruit picked with sakekazu, the sediment of sake fermentation. The flavor is quite strong, and has some residual alcohol.
- Nara Family, 3 minutes walk from Yamato-Saidaiji station, [3]. The 2nd largest shopping mall in Osaka, Kyoto and Nara prefectures.
- Yamazaki-ya (漬の山崎屋) 5 Higashimuki (along the covered Mochiidono Street) 0742-22-8039. A well-known purveyor of narazuke.
Eat
A local speciality is kakinohazushi, or sushi wrapped persimmon leaves, which actually originates from nearby Yoshino.
- Sanshu (in the Isui-en Garden) is worth a visit more for the attractive old house and garden than the menu, which consists of two very traditional dishes: mugi tororo (plain rice with ground yam, ¥1200), and unagi tororo (the same with grilled eel, ¥2500). Open for lunch only, daily except Tuesday.
- Hiraso (平宗), 30-1 Imamikadocho (south of Sarusawa Pond), 0742-22-3900. [4] (Japanese only) A nice sampling of local foods such as kakinohazushi and chagayu ("tea gruel", but it tastes better than it sounds) are included in dinner sets miyoshino and heijou, around ¥2500. English picture menu available.
Another well-known culinary product is shika-senbei, a rice cracker sold around Nara Park. Don't try eating it yourself though — it's meant for the deer!
Drink
Yamato-cha is kind of a Japanese green tea which is healthy and tasty.
Sleep
- Ryokan Seikanso (静観荘), 29 Higashi-Kitsuji-cho (15 minutes south of Nara Kintetsu station, along Mochiidono Street), 0742-22-2670 (fax 0742-22-2670 , seikanso@chive.ocn.ne.jp). Tatami mats, classical architecture, and an inner garden feature in this traditional ryokan. The rooms are showing their age, but the shared bathrooms have been recently remodeled. Japanese/Western breakfast for ¥700/450 is served in the tatami dinning room. Staff speaks limited English. ¥4000/person.
Contact
Tourist information centers operate in Nara:
- Nara City Tourist Information Center (on Sanjo-dori) 0742-22-3900. 9 AM to 9 PM
- JR Nara Station 0742-22-9821. 9 AM to 5 PM.
- Kintetsu Nara Station 0742-24-4858. 9 AM to 5 PM.
- Sarusawa Pond 0742-26-1991. 9 AM to 5 PM.
Three organizations offer free tours in English:
- Nara YMCA Goodwill Guides 0742-45-5920 (eggnaraymca@hotmail.com) [5]
- Nara Student Guide 0742-26-4753.
- Nara S.G.G. Club 0742-22-5595. [6]
Cope
Stay safe
The deer in Nara park tend to be friendly and perhaps overly eager to eat shika-senbei cookies from the hands of tourists, but you should avoid deer which have antlers. They can be aggressive and their antlers can injure you.
Get out
- Asuka — Japan's first historical capital
- Imai — full of old merchant houses
- Kashihara — the mythological site of Japan's first Imperial palace
- Fujiwara — Japan's second capital
- Horyuji — just 12 minutes away by train and then about 10 minutes by bus or taxi, is an ancient temple complex housing some of the oldest wooden buildings in the world.
- Yoshino — possibly Japan's most famous cherry blossom viewing spot
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