Nara City Tourism Association

Houtoku-ji Temple is the family temple of the Yagyu clan. Yagyu Munenori built it in 1638. It is located on a mountaintop with a panoramic view of Yagyu village. The adjacent historical materials room displays materials related to the Yagyu.

On the north side are the graves of the Yagyu family.

The legendary massive rock split in half. 

When the famous swordsman Yagyu Munenori (also known as Sekishusai, founder of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school) encountered a tengu (a long-nosed monster in Japanese folklore) here during his sword training, he struck down the tengu in two with a single stroke of his sword. However, it turned out that only the massive rock, about 7 meters square, split instead of the tengu, which is why the rock was named "Itto-seki" (One-Sword Rock). 

Many fans visit the rock to take commemorative photos, as it resembles a split rock featured in a popular Japanese anime.

Jinya is a residence and government office built mainly during the Edo period to govern the territories of the lords of small feudal domains. They are characterized by not having large-scale defensive facilities, such as castles, but rather being specialized for administrative and residential purposes.

It took three years to complete it after Yagyu Munenori, the first lord of the Yagyu Domain, built his family temple, Houtoku-ji, in 1642. Following the abolition of the feudal domain system and the establishment of prefectures at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868), the area became the Yagyu Prefectural Office, but now only the well and stone walls remain.

It has been developed into a historical park and is a well-known cherry blossom spot featuring about 300 Somei-yoshino cherry trees planted in the surrounding area. Every year, the cherry blossoms bloom later than they do in the center of Nara City. During the Yagyu Cherry Blossom Festival, held annually in early April, there are stage events, including thunderous matchlock gun demonstrations, as well as sales of local food, drinks, and specialty products.

The former residence of Oyamada Shurei, a notable elder retainer who thrived in the rice trading in Osaka and overcame the financial difficulties of the Yagyu Domain at the end of the Edo period. The lord of the Yagyu Domain at that time awarded him this site in recognition of his achievements, and Shurei constructed a magnificent mansion with stone walls. 

It still reflects the appearance of a high-ranking samurai's residence from the late Edo period. 

It is open to the public as a museum dedicated to Oyamada Shurei and the Yagyu Domain. It is recognized as a designated cultural property of Nara Prefecture. In recent years, the writer Yamaoka Sohachi has owned it. It is also known as the mansion where he conceived the idea for his novel "Spring Slope," which features Yagyu Munenori as the main character.