Yamato-Koriyama in western Nara is home to one of the few castle ruins in the Nara area, and the remains can be seen just west of JR Koriyama Station. The castle was built in the 16th century but it was dismantled in the Meiji Era. Now only the original moat and castle walls remain. However, a gate..
Inhabited since ancient times, the city area nurtured paddy field agriculture in the fertile Nara Basin since its pre-history. Large keyhole type burial "kofun" mounds were constructed in the northwestern part of the city around the 5th century. With the introduction of West..
Katsuragi city is in the southwestern part of Nara prefecture, and has a population density of about 1000 people per square kilometer. The city was formed in 2004 when the two districts of Taima and Shinjo merged to form a new city. It is reached by taking the Kintetsu Minami Osaka line from Namba ..
Maguro Koya is a Tuna House that is small by name but big on flavour. It's a very short walk from Kintetsu-Nara station, and originally was not a place I was going to visit, however, due to JR issues with the trains that day, we were advised to t..
Just a 3-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station and close to the Higashimuki Shopping Arcade, Cafe Wakakusa is one of Nara’s lovely little treasures. Run by Hiro and Sumie, a global-minded couple, Cafe Wakakusa welcomes travelers and locals ali..
Nara city was a former capital of Japan and is now currently the capital of the Nara Prefecture. The city is most famous for the sacred creatures that roam the city - the "shika," or deer. The sites of Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha Shrine are ..
Branded as an ancient paradise beyond memory, Sasayuri-ann in Nara Prefecture is a unique lodging with rich history and fascinating cultural activities set in the birthplace of the Japanese ninja. This mountain villa is the perfect combination of Ja..
The narrow mountain road descended below the clouds at last and into a beech forest still clinging to the last sparse patches of fall foliage. The road plunged deep into a valley and then followed the course of a river upstream to a tiny island of ci..
Until recent years, the exquisite sasayuri lily flourished across the Japanese countryside. Due to environmental factors and development, this once common flower is now a rarity to behold. Similarly, the iconic thatched roof lodgings of Japan's p..
Tanzan Jinja, deeply set into the Sakurai Mountains in Nara prefecture, is a shrine well-known for its dazzling autumn colors and luminous, red buildings. Autumn in Japan is known worldwide for its momijis, red maple trees which color in a variety of..
Perched in the mountains of Yamato, a short distance from Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture, are two of the four temples of the Yamato spiritual pilgrimage. The Hasedera Temple overlooks a narrow valley where traditional Japanese houses line up along t..
Yoshinoyama in winter does not see many visitors but if you love nature, temples and shrines, walking and eating, then you will enjoy a weekend here in January or February. Here you will find the Zao Do, the main hall of Kinpusen-ji Temple. The large..
