Japan's Ancient First Capital

Nara was Japan's first permanent capital from 710 to 794 AD, and during this period it became the birthplace of Japanese Buddhist art, architecture, and scholarship. The city's remarkable concentration of ancient temples, shrines, and imperial treasures earned it UNESCO World Heritage status — eight separate monuments in total — and its cultural significance in Japanese history is rivalled only by Kyoto and Ise.

The city's most famous residents are its 1,200+ wild sika deer, which wander freely throughout the central park and surrounding streets. Considered sacred emissaries of the Shinto deity Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, the deer have been protected since 768 AD. They have become remarkably accustomed to human visitors and will bow politely when offered the traditional shika senbei crackers sold throughout the park — creating one of the most distinctive animal-human encounters in Asia.

Nara is most commonly visited as a day trip from Kyoto (45 minutes by JR or Kintetsu train) or Osaka (35 minutes express), and its compact scale means the major sights can be covered in a single day. However, staying overnight transforms the experience: after the day-trippers depart, the deer park becomes serenely quiet, the temples are illuminated at dusk, and the Naramachi district's ryokan inns and sake bars offer a much more contemplative encounter with Japan's oldest city.