Nara: A Day Trip from Kyoto

Emperor Shomu ordered the Great Buddha cast in the 740s, at a cost that came close to bankrupting the state: the project consumed most of Japan's available bronze and, by some accounts, mercury poisoning from the gilding shortened a good many lives. The statue was dedicated in 752 in front of ten thousand monks, with an Indian priest painting in the eyes.

The hall around it burned twice, in 1180 and 1567. What stands today dates from 1709 and is thirty per cent narrower than the Nara-period original, which tells you something about the scale of the first one. It is still, by most measures, one of the largest wooden buildings in the world.

Inside, look for the pillar with a hole through its base, said to be the size of the Buddha's nostril: crawling through it is supposed to bring enlightenment, and the queue of children proves the tradition is alive. The Nio guardians in the Nandaimon gate on the way in were carved by Unkei and Kaikei's workshop in 1203, in about seventy days, and are the finest sculpture on the site.

The rest of the temple

Hokke-do (Sangatsu-do) up the hill is the oldest building at Todai-ji and holds a dense group of Nara-period statues; Nigatsu-do above it has a veranda with the best view over the city and costs nothing. Both are worth the ten minutes' climb, and almost every coach group skips them.

From Kintetsu Nara station the park begins in five minutes. The sensible direction is anticlockwise: Kofuku-ji first because it is nearest, then Todai-ji before the school groups, then the lantern avenue to Kasuga Taisha, then back through Naramachi for lunch.

That circuit is a comfortable five hours in the park, six with lunch, and seven door to door from central Kyoto. Cutting it to four means dropping Kasuga Taisha, which is the wrong cut — drop Naramachi instead and eat near the station.

They have been protected here since the eighth century, when they were declared messengers of the shrine's deity, and killing one was a capital offence until 1637. They are genuinely wild, they are habituated to people, and they have learned that a bow gets a biscuit — which is charming until you are the one holding the packet.

The practical version: buy the crackers, sold at stalls around the park at about $0.63 (¥100) a bundle, feed them quickly and show your empty hands. Do not tease, do not hold the packet above your head, and do not put loose paper in your pocket — deer eat maps, tickets and shopping bags. The city posts warnings about head-butting and biting, particularly in the autumn rut and in spring when the fawns are about.

Fares and times from the operators' timetables, read on 30 August 2026.

Neither Kyoto day pass covers either line — the transport page explains what they do cover. If you hold a Japan Rail Pass, the JR line is free and the fifteen-minute walk at the far end is the price.

Nara is the right third day and the wrong second one: Kyoto's own two halves need two days between them, and a day trip taken before you have seen the city usually means the city loses. Take the 08:30 train, be at Todai-ji by half past nine before the school groups, and you are back in Kyoto by half past four with the evening intact.

The three-day itinerary puts it exactly there, with Uji and a slow city day as the alternatives.