Click here to see all the spots we visited this time. We arrived in Nara by the sightseeing express “Aoniyoshi” and stayed at the Nara Hotel on the first day. After checking out of the hotel, we visited the following places in this order on the second day. Taikichi Irie Memorial Nara City Museum of Photography
Gelateria Fiore
Air Cake.
Fufu Nara “Japanese Cuisine Tekisui
Former Residence of Naoya Shiga
Takabatake Tea Theory
Kasuga Taisha National Treasure Hall
What is surprising is that you can get around all of them on foot (take a bus to the last one)! (The last stop, Narasenyusai, is by bus.) You can see how the Kasuga Taisha and Takahata areas have a lot to offer.
Gelateria Fiore, a popular cafe and cake store Only 300 meters from the Museum of Photography is the very popular gelato store “Gelateria Fiore” in front of the Shin-Yakushiji Temple gate. On weekends, customers come from outside of the prefecture to visit this store. There are always about 10 kinds of gelato available. Pistachio, hojicha (roasted green tea), and chocolate are the standard flavors. The gelato, made with carefully selected ingredients, has a deep flavor with a light aftertaste, and in a sense, it is dangerous because it seems as if you can eat it endlessly! The seasonal strawberry made with ancient capital flower from Nara Prefecture was also delicious.
Naoya Shiga’s Former Residence is Suited to Rain The former residence of Naoya Shiga is where the great writer Naoya Shiga moved to in 1929 and lived with his family for nine years from the age of 46 to 55. Currently open to the public as the “Former Residence of Naoya Shiga,” visitors can see the study where he completed his long novel “Dark Night Road,” the dining room with a floor space of approximately 20 tatami mats, and the guest room. The sunroom, called the “Takahata Salon,” where writers and painters such as Saneatsu Mushanokouji gathered, is a must-see. Why not sit in one of the chairs and pretend you are a cultural figure from 2024? The reason why it is called “former residence” and not “memorial hall” is because of his last will and testament that “no statues or monuments should ever be erected. Incidentally, Taikichi Irie, a photographer with whom we had a close relationship, said, “Naoya Shiga’s residence is most beautiful on rainy days. Indeed, the stone-paved approach to the rain-soaked entrance was beautiful.
Walking down the path in front of the Takabatake Tea Theatre, you will find a dense forest. This is the Kasuga-yama primeval forest, which has been carefully protected by human power as the sacred area of Kasuga-taisha Shrine, where logging and hunting have been forbidden since ancient times. The forest is registered as a World Heritage Site as part of the “Cultural Properties of Ancient Nara. Mr. Shingo Akita of the Kasuga Taisha Public Relations Office greeted us at the entrance. This time, we walked along the “Shimo no Negi Michi” to the main shrine. It is muddy from the rain, so please watch your step. The name “Shimono-Negimichi” comes from the fact that many priests used to live in Takahata and walk this path to Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Since it is called “Shimo” (literally, “under”), it seems that there are also “Kami” (literally, “top”) and “Naka” (literally, “middle”) paths. Kasuga-taisha, the head shrine of the approximately 3,000 Kasuga shrines in Japan, was founded in the Nara period (710-794) to pray for the protection of the Heijo-kyo Capital and the prosperity of the people. The deer that can be seen here and there on the grounds of the shrine are carefully protected as shinroku (sacred deer). Kasuga Taisha is also known as the “Shosoin of Heian” because many of the treasures in the shrine’s collection were created in the Heian period (794-1192). The spring special exhibition “Edo no Hanayagi: Folding Screens and Treasures” is currently being held at the National Treasure Hall. Among the treasures, the “Golden crane and silver branch,” a pure gold crane craftwork from the Heian period and a national treasure, is currently on display. Photography was not allowed, so no photos are available, but please visit the museum to experience its elegance.
© Source travel watch