{"id":22597,"date":"2025-12-24T08:03:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T00:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=22597"},"modified":"2025-12-24T08:03:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T00:03:42","slug":"best-things-to-do-in-nara-japanese-city-thats-more-than-just-an-osaka-or-kyoto-side-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=22597","title":{"rendered":"Best things to do in Nara, Japanese city that\u2019s more than just an Osaka or Kyoto side trip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Conveniently located in the centre of western Japan\u2019s Kansai region, Nara has long been a popular day-trip destination for tourists staying in Osaka and Kyoto, which are both less than an hour away via public transport.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Nara was Japan\u2019s first permanent capital, from AD710 to AD794, and is famous for being home to some of the oldest temples and shrines in the country, as well as a population of tame, free-roaming deer that graze around them.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara is a Unesco World Heritage site featuring complexes in and around Nara Park, just outside the city centre. The most famous of these is the majestic Todaiji Temple, which houses one of the world\u2019s largest bronze Buddha statues.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Nara preserves the serene atmosphere of early Japanese Buddhism and <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Shinto<\/span>, Japan\u2019s indigenous faith. This is seen at the Kasugataisha Shrine, with its iconic lantern-lined paths, and the Horyuji Temple complex, home to the world\u2019s oldest surviving wooden structure.<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-0 e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The bronze Buddha statue at Todaiji Temple is among the largest in the world. Photo: Kyodo\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2025\/12\/22\/e5d9c3b2-f2bb-410b-b3f5-83ab60fbe4e7_07e22801.jpg\" title=\"The bronze Buddha statue at Todaiji Temple is among the largest in the world. Photo: Kyodo\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1ixmelf e1gf69pb1\">The bronze Buddha statue at Todaiji Temple is among the largest in the world. Photo: Kyodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Widely regarded as the birthplace of Japanese culture, Nara offers an awe-inspiring window back to the beginnings of Japanese civilisation, all in walkable, green surroundings. The myriad experiences it offers make it much more than just a pit stop.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cPeople know Nara, but many still see it as a place to stop by for a few hours on the way to somewhere else,\u201d says Klaus Christandl, general manager of JW Marriott Hotel Nara.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/travel-leisure\/article\/3337267\/best-things-do-nara-japanese-city-thats-more-just-osaka-or-kyoto-side-trip?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conveniently located in the centre of western Japan\u2019s Kansai region, Nara has long been a popular day-trip destination for tourists staying in Osaka and Kyoto,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[540,1884,5594,14054,4806,2581,308],"class_list":["post-22597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-city","tag-japanese","tag-kyoto","tag-nara","tag-osaka","tag-side","tag-trip","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}