Nara

Nara was the capital of Japan before Kyoto, which was the capital for more than a 1000 years before Tokyo, which has been capital for 1.3 centuries. So, you get the right idea if you guess that Nara is an old city. It has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one of which is Todai-ji Temple, home of the Great Buddha. As they say:

(the “Great Buddha opened his eyes”) in 758. Casting this huge bronze statue and housing it was probably the technological accomplishment of the millennium in Japan. To give visitors a sense of scale, they have carved a hole in one of the pillars the same diameter as Buddha’s nostril, and kids delight in crawling through it, including this 6th grader.

Two golden attendants, called bodhisattvas, flank the Buddha. They put off their own entry into nirvana to help others attain enlightenment.

The Great Buddha, his attendants and the mean guys that guard him are housed in this elegant hall. It is the largest wooden building in the world, though only 2/3 the size of the original!

Horyu-ji, the world’s first World Heritage Site, was founded in 607 by prince Shotoku. It is Japan’s oldest temple, and houses some of its most precious national treasures. Our favorite was a portable shrine from the 7th C made of camphor and cypress woods inlaid with the iridescent wings of jewel (tamamushi) beetles

One of Japan’s famed haikus by Masaoki Shiki goes … “Persimmon eating. Bell ringing. Horyu-ji.” OK, so in English it doesn’t have 17 syllables, but it works in kanji. And he obviously had a good time in Nara.

The Kasuga Taisha Shrine was founded by the Fujiwara family in the 8th C and rebuilt every 20 years per Shinto tradition until the end of the 19th C. That’s about 55 times! The wisteria vines in the courtyard are hundreds of years old and have amazingly long wands.

Photo, Shinya Kamimura

Two dishes that Nara is famous for are kamameshi, rice and seafood cooked in an iron pot, and kayu, rice porridge with fresh sliced bamboo shoots. Fresh bamboo shoots are to canned bamboo shoots what fresh tuna is to canned tuna.

Have ya gotta yukata? Julie and Junko do! Junko and Shinya Kamimura have hosted our visits to Nara. They have even enlisted the help of Junko’s parents and brother – the Imuras – to introduce us to Nara and Japan. Oh, yes, and one other food Nara is becoming famous for is Shinya’s okonomiyaki – and we know the secret ingredient!