In the year 710 Japan built its first permanent capital, copying the layout of the great Chinese capital. It lasted only seventy-four years, but it left the largest bronze Buddha in the country, thirteen-hundred-year-old temples and some thirteen hundred deer that roam the city freely as messengers of the gods. Twelve stops between the vanished palace, the pagoda almost sold for scrap, the pond of the drowned lady, the oldest roof tiles still in use, the cloth monkeys of Naramachi, the garden that borrows the landscape, the deer that bow, the three thousand lanterns, the guardians carved in 69 days, the Great Buddha, the Silk Road treasure and the ritual unbroken since 752. Approximate audio duration: 20 minutes.
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Nara: la primera capital, el Buda gigante y los ciervos que se quedaron
En el año 710, Japón construyó su primera capital permanente copiando el trazado de la gran capital china. Duró apenas setenta y cuatro años, pero dejó el Buda de bronce más grande del país, templos de mil trescientos años y unos mil trescientos ciervos que caminan libres por la ciudad como mensajeros de los dioses. Doce paradas entre el palacio desaparecido, la pagoda que casi se vende como chatarra, el estanque de la dama ahogada, las tejas más antiguas en uso, los monos de tela de Naramachi, el jardín que toma prestado el paisaje, los ciervos que hacen reverencias, las tres mil linternas, los guardianes tallados en 69 días, el Gran Buda, el tesoro de la Ruta de la Seda y el ritual que no se interrumpe desde el año 752. Duración aproximada de audio: 20 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~20 min of audio · 10.69 km on foot (~2 h 40 min walking) · about 3 h in total
You are in front of the Suzakumon gate, red and enormous, in the middle of a grassy plain. Behind it, in the distance, another great red building. Between them, almost nothing. This emptiness was the imperial palace of Japan's first permanent capital.
Before the year 710, the Japanese court moved every time an emperor died. Death polluted the palace. But a modern state, like China's, needed a fixed capital.
So Heijo-kyo, today's Nara, was born. It was laid out copying Chang'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty and the largest city in the world at the time: streets in a perfect grid, a great c…
2
The Pagoda Almost Sold for Scrap
You are in front of Kofuku-ji. Look at the five-storey pagoda, about fifty metres tall: it is the second tallest wooden pagoda in Japan. The current one dates from 1426. In these years it may be covered in scaffolding: a restoration that will last almost a decade.
Kofuku-ji was the temple of the Fujiwara family, the clan of aristocrats who dominated the Japanese court for centuries by marrying their daughters to emperors. It once had more than a hundred and fifty buildings.
Its museum holds one of Japan's best-loved statues: Ashura, a guardian with three faces and six arms, from the year 734…
3
The Lady Who Turned Her Back on the Pond
You are beside Sarusawa pond. From here you have Nara's classic view: the pagoda reflected in the water among willows. The pond was dug in the eighth century.
It has a sad legend. A court lady, an uneme, fell in love with the emperor. He paid her attention for a while and then forgot her. In despair, one night she threw herself into the pond.
Beside it is a tiny shrine dedicated to her, the Uneme shrine. Notice something curious: it is built with its back to the pond. It is said that the lady's spirit could not bear to see the water where she died, and that the shrine turned itself round in …
4
Fourteen-Hundred-Year-Old Roof Tiles
You are at Gango-ji. Look at the roof of the main hall: some of the tiles are a different colour, redder and uneven. It is not neglect.
Those tiles are from the late sixth century. They come from Asuka-dera, the first great Buddhist temple in Japan, founded in 588 by the powerful Soga clan. When the capital moved to Nara, the temple moved with it in 718, and they brought the tiles.
They are still on the roof. They are about fourteen hundred years old and still keep the rain off the building. They are among the oldest roof tiles in use in the world.
Buddhism had arrived in Japan from Korea i…
5
The Monkeys That Carry Your Misfortune
You are in Naramachi, Nara's old merchants' quarter. Long, narrow wooden houses with lattice facades. Now look at the doors: many have strings of small red cloth dolls shaped like monkeys hanging on them.
They are called migawari-zaru: the monkeys that take your place. They come from a very old popular belief. According to it, inside every person live some insects that, on certain nights, come out while you sleep to report your faults to the god of heaven.
The monkey is the messenger of the protective deity in that tradition. Hung on the door, it absorbs the misfortunes that were about to en…
6
A Garden That Steals the Landscape
You are at Isuien, a private garden with a pond, stone bridges, moss and small teahouses. Sit by the water and look into the distance, above the trees.
You will see the great roof of the Nandaimon gate of Todai-ji temple and, behind it, the green hills of Wakakusa and Kasuga. They are not inside the garden. They are hundreds of metres away. But the design incorporates them as if they were part of it.
The technique is called shakkei: borrowed scenery. The gardener does not plant mountains; he frames them. Trees and walls are placed to hide what is unwanted and reveal what is far away.
The fr…
7
The Messengers of the Gods
Look around you: deer. Walking among people, crossing the street, resting in the shade of the temples. Around thirteen hundred deer live freely in Nara.
If you buy the special crackers, shika senbei, many deer will bow to you, lowering their heads before asking. It is a learned gesture. But be careful: if you are slow, they also push and nibble your clothes.
According to legend, in 768 the god Takemikazuchi arrived from the east riding a white deer to settle at Kasuga shrine. Since then the deer of Nara have been considered divine messengers.
For centuries killing a deer here was a very ser…
8
Three Thousand Lanterns
You walked along a path lined with moss-covered stone lanterns. Now you are at Kasuga Taisha, the bright red Shinto shrine at the foot of the mountain. Go into the corridor and look at the bronze lanterns hanging from the ceiling, one after another.
In total the shrine has some three thousand lanterns, stone and bronze. They were donated over the centuries by nobles, samurai, merchants and ordinary families. Each bears the donor's name.
Twice a year, in February and August, they are all lit at the same time. The whole forest glows.
The shrine was founded in 768 by the Fujiwara family, the s…
9
Two Giants Carved in Sixty-Nine Days
You are under the Nandaimon, the great south gate of Todai-ji. Look to each side: two wooden guardians more than eight metres tall, muscular, furious, their robes whipped by an invisible wind.
One has his mouth open; the other, closed. They represent the first and last sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet: the beginning and the end of everything.
They were carved in 1203 by a team led by Unkei and Kaikei, the greatest sculptors of their time. The statues are made of thousands of assembled wooden pieces. According to temple records, they were finished in just sixty-nine days.
In the 1990s, during…
10
A Buddha to Save the Country
Go into the Daibutsuden. At first, darkness. Then the figure: a seated bronze Buddha about fifteen metres tall, right hand raised in a gesture of peace. It is the Great Buddha of Nara.
In the 730s Japan went through a catastrophe. A smallpox epidemic killed, by some estimates, a third of the population. There were rebellions, bad harvests and earthquakes.
Emperor Shomu, convinced that only Buddhism could protect the country, ordered a giant statue of the cosmic Buddha in 743. Hundreds of tonnes of bronze were cast, much of the copper available in Japan, and gold was used to gild it.
In 752 …
11
The Treasure of the Silk Road
Look at this dark wooden building raised on stilts, with walls made of interlocking logs triangular in cross-section. It is the Shoso-in, the treasure storehouse of Todai-ji. From outside it looks like a granary.
In 756, when Emperor Shomu died, his widow, Empress Komyo, donated her husband's personal belongings to the Great Buddha. They were stored here. And almost all are still here, twelve hundred and seventy years later.
There are some nine thousand objects: mirrors, musical instruments, textiles, weapons, medicines, documents. Many came along the Silk Road from China, Central Asia, Pers…
12
The Fire Unbroken Since 752
Climb the stone stairs to the terrace of Nigatsu-do, the hall of the second month. Bronze lanterns hang from the eaves. From the railing you have the best view of Nara: the great roof of the Buddha, the rooftops of the city, the mountains.
Every March, for two weeks, this hall is the stage for Omizutori, a Buddhist ritual of repentance. The monks pray for all the world's wrongs and for the peace of the country.
On the most famous night they run along this terrace with giant torches several metres long, which they swing over the crowd. Sparks fall like a rain of fire. It is said that anyone t…
How long does the "Nara: the First Capital, the Giant Buddha and the Deer Who Stayed" audio tour take?
It has about 20 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 10.69 km walking route (~2 h 40 min on foot). Plan roughly 3 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "A Capital Copied From China" (coordinates 34.689, 135.7927). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Nara and pick "Nara: the First Capital, the Giant Buddha and the Deer Who Stayed". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean
