Nara — Japan’s First Sacred Capital

In 710 AD, Empress Genmei established Japan’s first permanent capital at Heijō-kyō, modeled on the Chinese Tang dynasty capital of Chang’an. Before this, the capital had moved with each new emperor — a practice rooted in the Shinto belief that death polluted a place. Nara broke that cycle, creating a fixed political and spiritual center for the first time.

The city was laid out on a precise north-south grid, 4.8 km by 4.3 km, with the imperial palace (Heijō Palace) at the northern center. Buddhism, imported from the Korean peninsula and China over the preceding century, became the state religion. Emperor Shōmu (r. 724–749) believed that Buddhist dharma could protect the nation itself, and ordered the construction of provincial temples (kokubunji) in every province — with Tōdai-ji at Nara as their head.

The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) at Tōdai-ji is the world’s largest wooden building — even in its current form, which is two-thirds the size of the original 752 AD structure. Inside sits the Rushana Buddha (Daibutsu): 15 meters tall, cast from 500 tons of bronze and gilded with gold from across Japan.

Emperor Shōmu conceived the Daibutsu as a cosmic symbol: the Rushana (Vairocana) Buddha represents the universe itself, with every living being as a lotus petal emanating from its body. The 752 eye-opening ceremony (kaigen-kuyo) drew dignitaries from across Asia — including delegations from Tang China, Silla Korea, India, and Persia — making it one of the first truly international events in Japanese history.

The Shōsōin treasure house, located on the Tōdai-ji grounds, preserves over 9,000 artifacts from Emperor Shōmu’s personal collection. These objects — Persian glass, Tang dynasty mirrors, Central Asian textiles — prove that 8th-century Nara was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road.

Founded in 768 AD as the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara clan, Kasuga Taisha is surrounded by the Kasugayama Primeval Forest — a sacred grove that has been protected from logging since 841 AD. This 250-hectare forest is one of the only primeval forests surviving within a major Japanese city, a living relic of the ancient practice of preserving chinju no mori (shrine forests).

Approximately 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns line the approach and inner sanctuary. Twice a year — during Setsubun Mantoro (February) and Obon Mantoro (August) — all 3,000 lanterns are lit simultaneously, creating a scene of extraordinary spiritual beauty. Many lanterns have been donated over centuries by worshippers seeking blessings, each one bearing the donor’s prayer.

The shrine’s principal deity, Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, is said to have arrived at Kasuga riding a white deer — the origin of Nara’s sacred deer tradition.

Kōfuku-ji was the Fujiwara clan’s family temple, once among the most powerful institutions in Japan. Its five-story pagoda (50 m) is the second tallest in Japan and has become Nara’s visual signature. Destroyed and rebuilt seven times, the current structure dates to 1426.

The temple’s greatest treasure is the Ashura statue (National Treasure, 734 AD): a three-faced, six-armed guardian figure with an expression of vulnerable humanity rarely seen in Buddhist sculpture. When exhibited at Tokyo National Museum in 2009, it drew 946,172 visitors in 45 days — more than many Western blockbuster exhibitions. The Ashura represents the being who, in Buddhist mythology, wars endlessly before discovering peace through the dharma.

Located 12 km southwest of central Nara, Hōryū-ji houses the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures, dating to the early 7th century (circa 607 AD). The five-story pagoda and the main hall (Kondo) have stood for roughly 1,400 years — surviving earthquakes, wars, and the passage of time through a combination of brilliant engineering and careful maintenance.

The temple was founded by Prince Shōtoku (574–622), the most important figure in the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Shōtoku’s Seventeen-Article Constitution (604 AD) famously begins with ‘Harmony is to be valued’ (wa wo motte tōtoshi to nasu) — a principle that still defines Japanese social philosophy. Hōryū-ji is his spiritual legacy made physical.

The Yumedono (Hall of Dreams), an octagonal hall built in 739 over the site of Shōtoku’s private palace, houses a secret Buddha (hibutsu) — the Guze Kannon — that was hidden and unwrapped only in 1884 by Ernest Fenollosa. Temple monks warned that opening the wrappings would bring an earthquake.

Over 1,200 wild sika deer roam freely through Nara Park and the surrounding temple grounds. They are considered shinka (神鹿, divine deer) — messengers of the kami enshrined at Kasuga Taisha. According to legend, the deity Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto arrived at Kasuga riding a sacred white deer from Kashima in present-day Ibaraki Prefecture.

From 768 AD until the Meiji era, killing a deer in Nara was punishable by death. Even after the deer lost their official divine status in 1637, they remained protected. Today they are designated a National Natural Monument. The annual deer census (shika no tsunokiri, antler-cutting ceremony) dates to 1671.

Visitors worldwide are charmed by the Nara deer’s famous ‘bowing’ behavior — a learned response to receiving shika-senbei (deer crackers). Research published in Animal Cognition (2019) confirmed that the deer genuinely modify their bowing depth and frequency based on human behavior, suggesting a sophisticated cross-species social learning that has developed over centuries of coexistence.

The broader Yamato region surrounding Nara is where Japanese civilization crystallized. Mt. Miwa (Miwayama), rising 467 meters, is considered Japan’s oldest sacred mountain. Ōmiwa Shrine at its base has no main hall (honden) — the mountain itself is the object of worship. This is the purest expression of the original Shinto principle: nature as the body of the divine.

Further south, the Asuka region (Asuka-mura) preserves Japan’s pre-Nara capital sites and mysterious stone monuments whose origin and purpose remain debated. The Ishibutai Kofun, a massive stone tomb attributed to Soga no Umako (6th century), and enigmatic carved stones like Masuda no Iwafune (a boat-shaped monolith) hint at connections to continental Asian stone-working traditions.

The Shōsōin, a log-cabin-style storehouse within the Tōdai-ji complex, is one of the world’s most extraordinary archives. Sealed after Empress Kōmyō donated Emperor Shōmu’s personal collection in 756 AD, it preserved over 9,000 objects in near-perfect condition for 1,270 years.

Among its treasures: Sassanid Persian cut-glass bowls, a five-stringed biwa (lute) inlaid with mother-of-pearl depicting a camel rider — the only surviving five-stringed biwa in the world — Tang Chinese silver mirrors, Indian-influenced textiles, and Central Asian rugs. These objects trace a clear path from the Mediterranean through Persia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and finally to Nara.

Every autumn, the Imperial Household Agency opens a selection of Shōsōin treasures for public exhibition at Nara National Museum. The annual exhibition consistently ranks among Japan’s most attended cultural events.

While Kyoto draws the global spotlight, Nara offers something different: depth without crowds, age without commercialization. Several temples offer meditation retreats and morning practice sessions. Toshodai-ji, founded by the Chinese monk Ganjin (Jianzhen) in 759, offers a particularly authentic atmosphere — far fewer tourists than Tōdai-ji, but equally profound.

Nara’s traditional crafts carry the spirit of its ancient culture. Nara-zumi (Nara ink sticks) have been produced since the 8th century and still supply the majority of Japan’s sumi ink. Nara-sarashi (bleached linen) was once Japan’s most prized textile. These crafts survive not as museum pieces but as living traditions, connecting makers directly to their Nara-period ancestors.

For the SBNR traveler, Nara offers a rare experience: walking the same paths that monks, emperors, and pilgrims have walked for 1,300 years, surrounded by deer that have been sacred for just as long. There is no performance here. The sacred is simply present.