Nara prefecture

Nara, past the deer

Nine visitors in ten see one park and go back to Kyoto for the night. This is the section that covers the rest of it — and the practical details that decide whether the rest is reachable in the time you have.

Being written. The structure below is the publishing plan. Anything marked live is finished and sourced; the rest goes up as it is researched and photographed, not before.

The Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji, a very wide wooden temple building, seen head on across its forecourt. — Todai-ji's Great Buddha Hall — the reason most day trips to Nara never get any further. Photograph by Balon Greyjoy, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Not our photograph.

Getting there and around

The highest-intent questions people actually ask, and the ones a rail pass decision hangs on.

Kyoto to Nara: JR or Kintetsu? live
Osaka to Nara: every route compared live
Kansai Airport to Nara without a transfer headache
Kintetsu-Nara vs JR Nara: which station you want live
Getting around Nara without a car
Where to leave your luggage in Nara

The deer

The single largest source of English search demand about Nara, and almost none of it is answered with data.

Are the Nara deer dangerous? What the injury figures show live
How many deer are there, and how that number has changed live
Feeding the deer: the crackers, the rules, the bowing
The quietest hours in Nara Park
Deer in autumn: what rutting season changes

Beyond Nara Park

The genuinely underserved half of the prefecture. This is where the site earns its authority.

Yoshino: when the cherry blossom actually peaks live
Asuka by bicycle: Japan before Kyoto existed
Horyuji: the oldest wooden buildings in the world
Yamanobe-no-michi: walking the oldest road
Muroji and Hasedera without a tour
Soni Kogen when the grass turns

Seasons and events

Dated, recurring, and refreshed every year — content that renews its own value.

Wakakusa Yamayaki: the mountain burning
Omizutori at Todaiji
Autumn colour timing across the prefecture
What is open, and when, over New Year

Eating and drinking

Strong visual material for Pinterest, and where Nara is most different from Kyoto.

Kakinoha-zushi: persimmon leaf sushi
Miwa somen at the source
Where refined sake was invented
The fastest mochi pounding in Japan

Rows of moss covered stone lanterns lining an approach at Kasuga Taisha in Nara. — Kasuga Taisha's stone lanterns, a short walk uphill from the deer. Photograph by Zairon, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Not our photograph.