A Well That Named a Temple and a Village
Among the rice fields and old farmhouses north of Horyuji, a small well sits beneath a dark protective roof, fenced off and easy to walk past. This is Mii, listed as a National Historic Site since June 26, 1944. It lies within the former grounds of Horinji, a temple founded in the Asuka period, and it is old enough that both the surrounding hamlet of Mii and the temple's second name, Miidera, took their names from it.
The well had silted up and vanished from the surface by the Meiji era. An excavation in 1932 cleared it out and recorded what remained: a shaft about 4.25 meters deep with a mouth roughly 91 centimeters across. Local people also know it by the name Akasome-no-i.
Prince Shotoku and the Three Wells
Tradition holds that this is one of three wells dug by Prince Shotoku (574–622), the statesman and Buddhist patron whose Ikaruga estate gave rise to Horyuji and the temples around it. One local account says he sank the wells to draw the first bath water for his children, among them Prince Yamashiro no Oe. A different version claims the three wells originally stood in Asuka and were moved to this spot later.
The exact story is hard to pin down, but the well plainly mattered. Horinji was also called Miidera, written either with characters meaning "three wells" or with characters for "the honored well." Roof tiles dug up at Horinji carry a stamped inscription read as "Oi," another sign that temple and well were closely tied.
A Rare Way of Building a Well
What earned Mii its protected status is less the legend than the construction the 1932 dig brought to light. The shaft swells slightly at the middle, shaped like a barrel set into the ground. At the very bottom, four stones are fitted into a square, and water rises through the gaps between and around them.
The lower wall, to a height of about 1.15 meters, is built from roughly piled stones. Above that, for some three meters, the builders stacked curved, fan-shaped bricks. Each piece measures about 29 centimeters along its outer arc and 23 along the inner, roughly 23 centimeters long and 7.6 thick. Wells lined this way are uncommon, and the brickwork points back to the same workshops that fired Horinji's roof tiles.
What You See Today
The well head is covered and railed, so visitors look at it rather than down into it. The dark roof and wooden enclosure are themselves part of the appeal, with the worn, cared-for look of something a community has guarded for a long time. There is no grand monument here. That is rather the point. Standing beside a plain old well in a farming hamlet gives a more grounded feel for seventh-century Ikaruga than the great temple halls a short walk away.
Because the site sits among private homes and fields, it rewards an unhurried walk. The lanes between Horinji and the well are flat and quiet.
Getting There and Nearby Sights
Mii is a short walk from Horinji, whose three-story pagoda, rebuilt in 1975, rises above the fields. A little further north stands Hokiji, whose original three-story pagoda is a National Treasure and part of the "Buddhist Monuments in the Horyuji Area" World Heritage listing. Horyuji itself, home to the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world, is roughly a 20-minute walk to the south.
There is no parking at the well. Drivers usually leave their cars at Horinji's lot and continue on foot. Linked together, Horyuji, Hokiji, Horinji, and the Mii well make a comfortable half-day loop through the Ikaruga countryside.
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Q&A
- Can I look inside the well?
- The mouth is covered and surrounded by a railing for protection, so you view the structure from outside rather than drawing water or peering down the shaft.
- Is there an admission fee?
- No. It is an open-air roadside site that you can see at any time, free of charge. Since it stands among homes and farmland, please keep to the lanes and be considerate of residents.
- How is it connected to Prince Shotoku?
- By tradition it is one of three wells he is said to have dug in this area. One story has him sinking them to provide the first bath water for his children. The accounts are legendary rather than documented, but the link to the prince has been remembered for centuries.
- Why is a well a National Historic Site?
- Its construction is unusual. Above a base of piled stones, the shaft is lined with stacked fan-shaped bricks, a technique rarely seen in old wells. That, together with its ties to Horinji and the Shotoku tradition, led to its designation in 1944.
- How do I reach it from Horyuji?
- Walk north for about 20 minutes toward Horinji. The well is close to the temple, and parking at Horinji is the usual option for those arriving by car.
Basic Information
| Name | Mii (also called Akasome-no-i) |
|---|---|
| Location | Mii, Ikaruga, Ikoma District, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | National Historic Site |
| Date designated | June 26, 1944 |
| Attributed period | Traditionally the Asuka period; well excavated in 1932 |
| Dimensions | Depth about 4.25 m; mouth diameter about 91 cm |
| Associated temple | Horinji (also known as Miidera) |
| Access / viewing | Free outdoor site, exterior viewing; short walk from Horinji, about 20 minutes on foot from Horyuji |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Mii
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/401/1988
- Ikaruga Town, Archaeological Sites (Historic Site Mii)
- https://www.town.ikaruga.nara.jp/0000000049.html
- Nara Prefecture Tourism: Horinji Temple
- https://yamatoji.nara-kankou.or.jp/01shaji/02tera/02west_area/horinji/
Last verified: 2026.05.28