4 Best Sights in Western Nara, The Kansai Region

This temple is the jewel in the crown of classical Japanese architecture. In the morning, elderly locals on their way to work pray in front of the temple with intensity. Founded in AD 607 by Prince Shotoku (AD 573–621), Horyu-ji's original wooden buildings are among the world's oldest. The first gate you pass through is the Nandai-mon, which was rebuilt in 1438 and is thus a relatively young 500 years old. The second gate, Chu-mon (Middle Gate), is the 607 original. Unlike most Japanese gates, which are supported by two pillars at the ends, central pillars support this gate. Note their entasis, or swelling at the center, an architectural feature from ancient Greece that traveled as far as Japan. Such columns are found in Japan only in the 7th-century structures of Nara.

After passing through the gates, you enter the temple's western precincts. The first building on the right is the Kon-do (Main Hall), a two-story reproduction of the original 7th-century hall, which displays Buddhist images and objects from as far back as the Asuka period (AD 552–645). The Five-Storied Pagoda to its left was disassembled in World War II to protect it from air raids, after which it was reconstructed with the same materials used in AD 607. Behind the pagoda is the Daiko-do (Lecture Hall), destroyed by fire and rebuilt in AD 990. Inside is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai (Physician of the Soul) carved from a camphor tree.

From the Daiko-do walk past the Kon-do and Chu-mon; then turn left and walk past the pond on your right. You come to two concrete buildings known as the Daihozo-den (Great Treasure Hall), which display statues, sculptures, ancient Buddhist religious articles, and brocades. Of particular interest is a miniature shrine that belonged to Lady Tachibana, mother of Empress Komyo. The shrine is about 2½ feet high; the Buddha inside is about 20 inches tall. The Todai-mon (Great East Gate) opens onto Horyu-ji's eastern grounds. The octagonal Yumedono (Hall of Dreams) was so named because Prince Shotoku used to meditate in it.

This temple was originally the home of Prince Shotoku's mother in the 6th century and is now a Buddhist nunnery. It houses an amazing wooden statue of the Miroku Bodhisattva, the Buddha of the Future. His gentle countenance has been a famous image of hope since it was carved, sometime in the Asuka period (AD 552–645).

The main entrance to Toshodai-ji Temple, which was built in AD 751, is called the Path of History, since in Nara's imperial days dignitaries and priests trod this route; today it is lined with clay-walled houses, tranquil gardens, and the occasional shop selling crafts.

At the temple's entrance entasis pillars support the Nandai-mon (Great South Gate). Beyond the Nandai-mon is the Kon-do (Main Hall), a superb example of classical Nara architecture. It was restored in 2009. Inside the hall is a lacquer statue of Vairocana Buddha, the same incarnation of Buddha that is enshrined at Todai-ji. The halo surrounding him was originally covered with 1,000 Buddhas; now there are 864. In back of the Kon-do sits the Daiko-do (Lecture Hall), formerly an assembly hall of the Nara Imperial Court, the only remaining example of Nara palace architecture.

The two pagodas that tower over Yakushi Temple are an analogy of past and present Japan. Yakushi-ji's East Pagoda dates from 1285, and has such an interesting asymmetrical shape that it inspired Boston Museum of Fine Arts curator Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908), an early Western specialist in Japanese art, to remark that it was as beautiful as "frozen music." Its simple, dark brown beams with white ends contrast starkly with its flashier, vermilion-painted 20th-century neighbor, the West Tower, built in 1981. For many, the new goes against the "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" principles of the old wabi-sabi aesthetic; but we think the contrast thrusts Yakushi-ji right into the 21st-century. Officially named one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, Yakushi-ji was founded in 680 and moved to its current location in 718.