Nara

Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments

Asukaike Kobo Ruins

Explore the Asuka-ike Workshop Site in Nara, a 7th-century imperial workshop where Japan's oldest coins (Fuhonsen) were minted. Free admission for foreign visitors at Man'yo Museum. Discover ancient metalworking, glassmaking, and the earliest written use of "Emperor."

Jikoin Garden

Discover Jikoin Temple Garden, a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in Nara. Created by tea master Katagiri Sekishu in 1663, this remarkable temple treats visitors to matcha tea while overlooking a stunning borrowed landscape garden. One of Nara's Three Great Gardens.

Nukatabe Kiln Site

Discover the Nukatabe Kiln Site, a nationally designated historic site in Yamatokoriyama, Nara. Explore this rare 13th-century tile kiln connected to Buddhist temple restoration and Japan's medieval craftsmanship.

Futatsuzuka Kofun

Discover Futatsuzuka Kofun in Katsuragi, Nara - a unique 6th-century keyhole-shaped burial mound featuring three distinct stone chambers, panoramic views of Nara Basin, and rich archaeological treasures. Explore this National Historic Site off the beaten path.

Bunnemaro Tomb

Discover the Tomb of Fumi no Nemaro in Uda City, Nara – a National Historic Site revealing ancient Japanese burial customs. Explore the story of a heroic general from the Jinshin War (672 CE) whose exquisite grave goods became National Treasures.

Miyayama Kofun

Discover Miyayama Kofun in Gose, Nara — a 238-meter keyhole-shaped burial mound and National Historic Site where visitors can climb the mound and view a rare nagamochi-gata stone sarcophagus still resting inside its original burial chamber.

Loomis Shijimi Habitat

Discover the nationally designated Natural Monument habitat of Loomis' Tailless Bushblue within Nara's sacred Kasugayama Primeval Forest. Designated in 1932, this site celebrates a rare cobalt-blue butterfly that once thrived in an ancient forest protected for over a thousand years as the sacred domain of Kasuga Grand Shrine — a place where Shinto spirituality, Western scientific discovery, and modern conservation intersect.

Akatsuchiyama Tomb

Asuka Inabuchi Palace Ruins

Asuka Palace Ruins

Asukakyo Ruins Garden Pond

Asukadera Temple Ruins

Asuka Mizuochi Ruins

Abe Temple Ruins

Ishibutai Tomb

Isuien Garden

Ise Honkaido

Ichio Tombyama Tomb and Miyazuka Tomb

Seyama Trees

Iwayayama Tomb