Nara - 4 Day Weekend Travel Extravaganza Day 4

On my last day of vacation, thanks to Culture Day on 11/3, I went to Nara. Nara is famous for deer which wander the large park on the east side of town. You can feed them crackers and pet them, since they are more than used to people. One of them even continued to pester me, hoping to get more food.

Nara's main attractions are impressive. Wandering through massive Nadaimon gate to the even more massive Todaiji Temple, which houses the appropriately named Daibutsu (Big Buddha). Yep everything is a big spectacle here in Nara. This monolithic statue was truly a sight to behold, and the entire temple dwarfs most of the other sites I have been to in Japan.

Afterwards I went the the nearby Isuien and Yoshikien gardens. These were a quiet respite from the crowded tourist filled Buddhist temple and park. I spent the afternoon here relaxing in the gardens, and I ate some kakinohazushi, a form of sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves. Traditionally, these leaves helped preserve the fish since Nara is quite a ways inland from the coast. The garden was beautiful and serene, with the fall leaves adding a myriad of colors to the landscape.

On my way back I stopped at a religious iconography exhibit near Nara park, which obviously didn't allow photos. The exhibit featured Buddhist iconography like Kannon and Asura statues I have seen in other temples across Japan, but it was a neat experience to see them up close in exhibition as opposed to being sectioned off in a temple.

On my way back to the train station in Nara, my route was blocked by a large group of people. They were all lined up in front of a small storefront which was making some kind of mochi snack through traditional means. To do so, the staff would hammer the mochi in perfect meter in a grand display. I hopped in line myself to try some of the food myself. The snack was good, abet a bit messy.

And thus concluded yet another long, incredible trip here in Japan.