Around the Past Entertainment Quarter

This area prospered as an entertainment quarter from the early Meiji period to the Taisho and the Showa periods. Even today, a small number of geisha houses for contemporary geisha girls remain here in a calm atmosphere.

Five-Storied Pagoda of Kohfukuji Temple Seen from Tsurufukuin-cho

Standing in a place, where the residence of the head priest of Daijoin of Kohfukuji Temple was located, you can just overlook the five-storied pagoda of Kohfukuji Temple, feeling a 1,300-year history through the current townscape of Nara.

Roof Tiles of the Main Hall of Gangoji Temple

This hall is roofed with round and plain tiles, of which style is called “Gyokibuki.” Even today, some of the tiles are original ones produced in the Asuka period.

Koshindo in Naramachi

The hub shrine of “Koshin Belief,” which became popular among common people in Naramachi. “Scapegoat Monkeys” are hanging from the eaves of the local houses as charms to expel evil spirits.

Townscape along the Kami Highway

This highway leads to the Kamitsu-michiroad connecting Nara and Asuka in ancient times. The street, which allows you to imagine a bustling atmosphere created with many visitors coming to inns and stores at that time, still remains.

Housing with Naramachi Latticework

A traditional merchant house in Naramachi is reproduced as a facility, which allows you to know the lifestyle in old times. You can easily imagine how people of that time lived.

Place of Scenic Beauty: Garden of the Former Daijo-in Temple

Daijo-in is a sub-temple of Kohfukuji Temple, which prospered as a temple of which head priest was a member of the five regent houses or the shogun families. Daijo-in was relocated here during the Kamakura period. Its garden was renovated into a circuit style one by Zenami, who designed the garden of Ginkakuji Temple.

Around Takabatake-cho where Earthen Walls Remain

This has been a town of Kasugataisha Shrine priests since early times. A calm atmosphere of the town has attracted a lot of cultural celebrities, including Naoya Shiga, a famous writer.

House with Latticework in Naramachi

Traditional merchant house in Naramachi is reproduced here. You can visit the house to directly learn the lifestyle of old merchants in Nara or how merchants lived at that time. You can also use the house as a place of relief.

Naramachi Monogatari-kan (Story Telling House)

Traditional merchant house was renovated for this facility. In this house, people involved in town planning gather for interaction, transmitting a variety of information on town planning.

Koshindo

Small shrine for Koshin belief in Naramachi. A charm of “Scapegoat Monkey” as a messenger of Blue-Faced Vajra is hanging from the eaves of the house to expel evil spirits.

Imanishi-ke Shoin

This is a shoin-style house, following the traditional form of the Muromachi period. This house is also a precious structure in the history of architecture in Japan. You can enjoy a bowl of powdered tea, looking at a well-maintained Japanese garden.

Naramachi Museum

A variety of old, nostalgic folkcraft articles, statues of Buddha, signboards, old coins, and other art works are exhibited.

Sarusawa Pond

This artificial pond was made in 749 to release caught fish there as a religious ceremony called “Hojo-e” conducted by Kohfukuji Temple. The five-story pagoda surrounded by willows reflected on the surface of the pond is very beautiful, and that scenery is one of the representative views in Nara.

Former Residence of Naoya Shiga

The former residence of Naoya Shiga, a great writer of the Shirakaba school. Living for nine years from 1929, he completed his novel “Anya Koro (A Dark Night's Passing)” here. This house was also called the “Takabatake Salon,” where cultural celebrities and artists interacted with one another.

Zutou Tower

An earthen tower like a seven-step pyramid 30 m in side and 10 m in height is said to have been built by Buddhist monk named Jicchu of Todaiji Temple in the Nara period. It is also said to be a burial mound for the head of a Buddhist monk named Gembo.