The Fujiwara family built Kojuku-ji temple in Kyoto in the 600's, but decided to move it to Nara 100 years later to consolidate their religious complexes in the new capital. While they were powerful, they clearly weren't prescient, as the capital promptly moved to Kyoto almost as soon as they had moved this temple in the opposite direction. This was a Shinto shrine as well, but did something of a merger with a neighboring Buddhist temple, and now it's a bit of both, just like Japan. There are two pagodas, both pictured here, with the five story one at left the second tallest in Japan. I didn't see many Japanese pagodas in my travels, mostly I think due to the fact that they attract lightning so most burn down over the years, but you'll see lots of exuberant pagodas when/if I get to blogging about our Nepal trip.

The temple itself has both the stone lanterns and these beautiful hanging lanterns that gave me all sorts of interior decorating ideas. As I mentioned before, this is a Shinto shrine, whereas most other temples in Nara are Buddhist, which became hugely popular in Japan while Nara was capital. I'm a big fan of Buddhism, so I think it's natural that it should win such a big following, but it must be said that Shinto is a pretty easy religion to beat. First, they worship the emperor, and I'm not going there again. Second, they had that stupid rule about destroying capitals and moving every time the emperor died, which I'm sure thrilled the people forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods and start building from scratch over and over. Third, they have another awful rule that all their temples need to be destroyed and completely rebuilt every 20 years. This temple has been completely rebuilt over 50 times, although mercifully they stopped here in 1893. Putting aside the huge expense wasted constantly rebuilding and destroying things, it also is a bit of a killjoy for tourists. You'll go to a beautifully situated temple, and learn all these special things about it, and then learn it was last rebuilt in the 1980's or something. I think Shinto was founded by the carpenters' union.

We then kept hiking through the park until we got to Mt. Wakasuka, just outside the park. The street in the right photo is a vaguely Alpine feeling street that serves as a fueling and equiping stop for hikers. Well, we thought it resembled Switzerland at the time, although the photo makes it look pretty disheveled. We had lunch at a restaurant at this street, which is of no interest to you but I don't remember many specific restaurant stops on this trip, so when I do I feel compelled to share. The restaurant definitely felt like an apres ski place, decked out in blonde wood and very airy, with a weird collection of souvenirs and knick knacks in the accompanying shop. Not really going anywhere with this memory.

Once you're suitably overwhelmed with the scale of this place, and it is gargantuan, the rest of a Nara sightseeing visit feels quite intimate. The main park with the aggressive deer is a huge open field, but the rest of the site is forested and hilly, and there are various temples hidden in the woods that aren't nearly as crowded and lots of fun to explore. The first logical stop, Nigatsu-do, is a bit hard to find. It's connected to the giant Buddha via a small path that winds uphill, which eventually connects to a wide staircase lined with stone lanterns, which then leads to a monastic compound that feels really sleepy. It's about a dozen buildings, mostly monk's quarters and one main temple from which you get a good view of Nara below.

Once through the gate, you're at the star attraction, Daibutsu-den, which is, as you know, the largest wooden building in Japan (and probably the world). It's about five stories tall, and inside is one of the largest Buddha figures, made of bronze. It was built in 752, along with the latest in fire protection technology, those two yellow horns sticking out of the roof that are meant to ward off the fire demons. The hall and the horns continued to be rebuilt after each fire, although the current version, built in 1709, is only 2/3 the size of the original.

21. Nara

OK, I'm sticking with my story that we took the train to Nara after a morning visit to one last temple in Kyoto, notwithstanding that we're wearing different clothes. Nara was the first "permanent" capital of Japan. Shinto tradition dictated that the capital had to be destroyed every time the emperor died and a new capital built. As Buddhism replaced Shinto this pretty impractical rule disappeared around 650 AD, although it's hard to notice. The first two permanent capitals built after dropping the rule were abandoned before they finally settled down in Nara in 710 AD. The capital became the focal point for the spreading of Buddhism and Chinese culture, writing etc. into Japan, which lasted for a whole 70 years, when the capital was moved to Kyoto, where it stayed put for the following 1,000 years. Once Nara was declared (erroneously) to be the permanent capital, the noble families all built their estates and family temples there, and supported the huge number of Buddhist temples sprouting up. In fact, this concentration of religious power in Nara ended up strangling itself, as one ambitious monk seduced the empress and almost took over the throne. Not to keep banging on about the emperors, but their reaction was not to get even, but to leave Nara and move the capital to Kyoto, where his wife could be kept away from the seductive monks.

Most of Nara's historical sights are maintained in an enormous park called Nara Goen. The biggest temple complex, Todai-ji, is entered through this huge wooden gate called the Nandai-mon, which is flanked by a couple of monsters to protect the Buddha image inside. But the real protectors are these deer. There are more than a 1,000 of them and they pounce on anyone that might be carrying food. You've been warned!