Nara is the former capital of Japan – its first permanent one. En route we visited the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Brewery museum. The water source in Nara prefecture is particularly pure (we were invited to try it for ourselves), perfect for sake, and the region is famous for it. We were already fans though đŸ™‚
That curved wooden guard Kyoko (and the flower of power) is standing next to is an anti dog widdle device đŸ™‚
At Nara we visited the Todaiji Temple, the world’s largest wooden structure (it used to be bigger!) housing the world’s largetst bronze buddha. It was also hosting thousands of visitors, most of them schoolkids, and several hundred hungry and really pushy sika deer which they unwisely encourage you to feed:( They are supposed to be Shinto messengers of the gods but really, they’re just moochers
A huge lantern outside the temple
Buddha, pre-enlightenment
Buddha, post enlightenment – this is the big one
One of the temple guardians
Medicin buddha
Yup, those deer would eat anything đŸ˜‰
Another guardian
At the base of this pillar is a hole the exact size of the giant buddha’s nostril, and if you can pass through it, you will enter paradise. So the kids were trying out the nostril test đŸ™‚
In the same park is the Shinto Kasuga Shrine, home of more hungry deer and 3,000 stone lanterns
After lunch, we headed back to Kyoto for a quiet evening in the hotel away from the group. Pity about the weather.