Japan Series Vol3: A day trip to Nara and Hozan-ji Temple
If you are new to my blog, thanks for visiting. This post is part of a Japan travel series covering my visit to Japan after two decades, including experiences across Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Uji in the Kansai region, along with a detailed itinerary and practical travel tips. This post covers the following topics; you can read the entire guide or jump to sections relevant to your travel plans.
- Is Visiting Nara worth it?
- Osaka to Nara by Train
- Things to see in Nara
- The deer of Nara
- The beautiful shrines of Nara – Kasuga Taisha Shrine
- A detour that was most memorable – Hozanji Temple (Ikoma)
- How to visit Hozanji Temple (Ikoma)?
- Hozan-ji, straight from Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away
- My thoughts about Nara
Is Visiting Nara worth it?
If you’ve never been to Japan but heard of Nara, odds are that you may have watched a lot of anime or come across a video or two with the deer of Nara Park reverently bowing to tourists in exchange for food. These videos are by far the most popular content about Nara that you can find on social media. I don’t remember how I first knew of Nara, but it was probably through a blog or one of these videos on the internet. I only realized that this was the oldest capital of Japan and its historical significance much later when I read about it out of curiosity.
Statue of a deer, an animal that has become synonymous with Nara at Kasuga Taisha Shrine
Given that my wife and I were only spending 7 days in the Kansai region, Nara was not a must visit destination in our list. As chance would have it, we not only ended up going on a day trip to Nara from Osaka, but it also ended up being the most memorable time we spent in the region.
Osaka to Nara by Train
As with most parts of Japan, most cities have multiple railway lines and options to commute between them. This city pair is no different, these are the primary options that you can choose from Osaka to Nara by train depending on where you are staying.
|
Line |
Originates at |
Arrives at |
Ideal if you stay
near- |
|
Kintetsu Line |
Namba Station |
Kintetsu Nara |
Namba, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori |
|
JR Line |
Osaka Station |
JR Nara |
Umeda, Osaka Station area, Tennoji |
Kintetsu Nara Station is closer to Nara Park and Kofuku-Ji temple and a short walk to Todai-Ji temple while the JR Nara station is further away but has good bus connectivity to all these places. You need an IC card to use the trains, you can buy it online through this Klook link and collect it at the airport or buy it at one of the vending machines.
We took the Kintetsu line Rapid express from Imazato and reached Nara in under 40 minutes. There are similar trains from Kyoto to Nara as well.
Things to see in Nara
A delightful light drizzle welcomed us to Nara and I was more than elated, I enjoy watching rain which doesn’t happen as often back in Dubai where I currently live. This sudden change in weather also warranted a steaming hot meal. Thankfully, Higashimuki shopping street near Kintetusu Nara station is lined with restaurants, where clouds of steam from freshly made noodles and irrestible aromas spill onto the street, this made my mouth water long before I reached the door. We ended up at a soba noodles restaurant where fresh noodles were being made from scratch. Hungry and on an empty stomach that morning, that first bowl felt nothing short of culinary paradise.
Well-fed and happy, we walked up to Kofuku-ji shrine, few hundred meters away. The shrine itself is very old; you can enter the temple for a small fee and read about its history. We continued walking along the road which eventually became a walking trail passing through the deer park towards Kasuga Taisha shrine. The overcast weather and occasional sunlight passing through the dense canopy of trees gave this place a beautiful vibe, I can vividly recall how happy I felt just to be walking along that path that day.
The deer of Nara
Given the fact that deer are considered sacred and revered, you can find these Japanese Sika deer all over Nara Park and other parts of the city. We personally just enjoy watching wildlife and have no interest in feeding them, it was fun watching the antics of fellow tourists trying to get them to bow in exchange for food.
The beautiful shrines of Nara – Kasuga Taisha Shrine
Kasuga Taisha is one of Nara's most important historical shrines, accessible either directly by road or by walk through a pathway through Nara Deer Park. Beyond the shrine is the Kasugayama Primeval Forest, a protected forest reserve that has many beautiful hiking trails. We chose a short hike to Motomiya Shrine, along with a few smaller trails closer to Kasuga Taisha.
As we began the climb towards Motomiya Shrine, the crowds gradually thinned until they disappeared entirely just beyond Kasuga Taisha. It was only us and the Kuku-no-shi, the Kami of trees. (In Shintoism, Kami are venerated spirits, and their sacred realms are marked by a Torii gate, usually red coloured)
No words can truly describe how peaceful and restorative that walk felt. The forest had an almost otherworldly calmness to it, as if we had indeed stepped into a divine realm. Looking back on that day, this quiet hike remains my strongest memory, far more than the charming cafés, the friendly deer, or even the shrines themselves.
What amazed me most was how a walk of barely a mile made it feel as though we were hours away from civilization. Apart from the gentle wind rustling through the tall canopy, the occasional chirping birds, and few enthusiastic crickets screeching afar, there was complete silence. Everything around us seemed suspended in time, in a stillness so profound that it felt as though the forest itself was breathing. It’s a good less strenuous hike to spend an hour in the afternoon, if you get a chance to visit Nara, do consider spending some time hiking in this area. I will let the pictures tell you a bit more of how beautiful this place is (Click for larger image)
One of the many small shrines along the way..
A detour that was most memorable- Hozanji Temple (Ikoma)
It was well past noon by the time we explored every corner of the KasugaTaisha Shrine and ended up at a Café near Nara station for some food. We could have spent some time enjoying some other Shrines and historical monuments in Nara but we remembered about a temple that we read about and saw some pictures few months ago. It was Hozanji temple, a short distance from Nara near Ikoma Station.
How to visit Hozanji temple (Ikoma)?
We rushed to Nara Station to catch the rapid train to Ikoma, a station enroute to Osaka Namba. Right next to Kintetsu Ikoma Station is Torimae station, from where a funicular railway connects to Hozanji Station. This is one of the oldest cable cars in Japan and has a very steep incline, the train cars are themed after a cat and a dog which were quite cute and quirky. IC Cards are not accepted in this route and round trip paper tickets must be purchased at Torimae station.
Downhill Cat themed train from Hozan-ji crossing our uphill ride midway
It was getting cold quite soon and reached about 10 deg by the time we reached Hozanji, another funicular railway begins at Hozanji and leads to Ikoma Sanjo Amusement park in case you ever plan to go there. Our destination today was only Hozanji temple which is a 15-minute walk from the station, or that’s what google maps said not catering for the numerous stops we would take enroute to appreciate the beautiful views from that height.
Hozan-ji, straight from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away?
The first thing I observed about this small mountain village was that there were literally no people outside although the homes appeared to be occupied. There were few restaurants that looked eerily empty with menu’s outside, but doors closed. The town itself is located on a hillslope and has a series of steps to lead anywhere, it looked eerily like scenes from Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away”.
We saw images of the temple earlier but none of them could do any justice to how enchanting the temple and the path leading to it looked. In the entire path leading to the temple and in the temple itself, we only saw 02 monks and not a single other person which was quite strange. We paid our respects, appreciated the architecture and sat down on the temple stairs for a long time pondering about the day. It was the quieter parts of the day spent in the hike at Nara and this temple that I enjoyed the most. It felt like an achievement being able to reach the temple before it was entirely dark and to be able to experience the aura this place radiated, my wife and I vowed to come back again.
My thoughts about Nara and Hozan-ji
When it comes to experiences while travelling, I often question whether my emotions are entirely my own, or whether they have been subconsciously shaped by the endless stream of curated moments on social media. Have I genuinely fallen in love with a place, or have I been conditioned to believe that I should, coz that is what’s expected of me? The sheer volume of content we consume especially short form content like reels and shorts can blur the line between authentic emotion and expected emotion. I'm not suggesting this is inherently good or bad, nor that everyone experiences it the same way. It's simply an observation that I find myself returning to from time to time.
That day in Kasugayama and at Hozanji Temple gave me an unexpected answer. Walking through that silent forest or sitting quietly on the temple steps for what felt like an eternity, I wasn't trying to only capture the perfect photograph or recreate a moment I had seen online. I was simply present.
The happiness I felt was overwhelming, yet entirely unforced. For a moment, it felt as though all the noise had faded away, leaving only my own thoughts, my own emotions, and the quiet certainty that they were genuinely mine.
I was happy, and I was grateful to have shared that moment with my wife. We were both glad that we had made the spontaneous decision to head to Nara and Hozanji temple. It reinforced a belief we have slowly come to appreciate: in the pursuit of balance between a carefully planned itinerary and an impulsive detour, sometimes it is that small element of chance that creates a memory for a lifetime.
Perhaps that is the magic of travel, not just discovering new places, but occasionally discovering unexpected moments within them.
I hope you find yours too.
Happy travels.
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