After visiting a festival in Yoshino Town on Sunday morning, and seeing a concert in Shimoichi Town in the afternoon, my friends and I found ourselves with a little time on our hands, and went for a nice drive to Gojo City. We passed through communities with persimmon farms and lots of traditional Japanese houses, and made the smooth climb up the soft hills of the western side of the city until we came upon a park.The highlight of Goman-nin No Mori Park (or “50,000 Person Forest Park”) is without a doubt its spectacular view of the valley below. Climb up a long set of steps to an acorn filled path, and continue up to the lone deck perched over the park.

Along the ledge, a photo showed us which mountains lay before our eyes, and what they look like in winter. We could see Sanjo-gatake, the mountain behind my house. As I spend most of my time at the bottom of valleys with steep mountains, this long, clear view of southern Nara prefecture was incredibly refreshing.

Even in the late afternoon, this park still had a number of families enjoying one of these last warmer days of the season. With rental  spots for barbecuing and camping, along with wide patches of grass to run around on, it is a relatively quiet part of the city where people can relax and enjoy the outdoors.

There is also a shop where you can buy local vegetables, snacks, and souvenirs. There are many traditional, handmade items here that you probably can’t find near most tourist destinations.

As you can see, Gojo City is beautiful part of Nara Prefecture!  There are many other parts of the city to see as well, including the historic Shinmachi-dori, so I hope you get a chance to visit. If you have any questions or need recommendations, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Here is the park’s Japanese homepage.

The national treasure East Pagoda of Nara’s Yakushi-ji Temple, whose vast restoration will be celebrated next year on April 22, 2020. Currently, the covering that protected it throughout its vast restoration is being dismantled and taken apart.
With two large cranes on the temple grounds, and steel beams being removed and carried down, we began to see the Mizukemuri finial atop the pagoda. I could see the highest roof when I visited two days later, and on my fourth day of observation, I was transfixed once again recognizing the top three roofs and that beautiful site…

Soon, we will be able to see the entire East Pagoda. There are six roofs, but the first, third, and fifth roofs from the bottom are small, decorative roofs designed to keep out rain and wind called mokoshi. Actually, on the inside there are just three layers stacked up in this pagoda.
The woven balance of the large and small roofs is very rhythmical, and the American philosopher and art historian, Ernest Fenollosa, famously described it as “frozen music”.

In a manner of speaking, the current East Pagoda is rare. Surrounded by a large covering, it is protected in a way that it almost feels small.
The Mizukemuri finial at the top is over 180 cm. I forgot just “how big” it felt when I was allowed to visit the site while it was open during restoration.

The Mizukemuri finial is made of copper. It is a part of the Sourin that decorates the top of the pagoda, with four panels in the east, west, south, and north, dancing in the sky and designed with Hiten fretwork. The panels weigh about 100 kilograms each as they sit at the very top of the pagoda. Amazing!
Due to wear, tear, and concerns for safety, as the original Mizukemuri finial probably won’t last for another 1,300 years, it is being replaced by a newly constructed Heisei Mizukemuri finial. It will watch over future generations, becoming a part of Yakushi-ji Temple history, and we all just might be witnesses.

http://www.nara-yakushiji.com/

*Sep. 4, morning, from in front of the eastern priest quarters

Have you heard of Nakanishi Yosaburo Nara Sweets, an old Japanese sweetshop that has continued for over 100 years in Nara?
It is a sweetshop that supplies shrines and temples in Nara Prefecture, as well as the Imperial household.

Located in the traditional Naramachi, which has been popular among tourists in recent years, the lattice door entrance and slitted portholes on the second floor of Nakanishi Yosaburo have a true Naramachi-like elegance to them. They do not just sell Japanese sweets at this shop, as we can also enjoy sweets or a meal at the Rokuboan Cafe in the back of the store.

When its hot, we recommend the Naramachi Ice, which comes in four different flavors. This shaved ice brings to life the flavors of special ingredients, with syrups made from Tsukigase Plums or Asuka Strawberries. Or with kudzu jello on top of ice and sprinkled with Akadama Sweet Wine, the Yumekoribana (Dream Ice Flower) is perfect for the summer. The twinkling Yumekoribana is beyond words, and cools us down by just looking at it.

This time, we have added the experience of making Japanese Sweets at Nakanishi Yosaburo Nara Sweets to nara-experience.com. It will be held at the shop’s recently renovated hidden bar.
In a space that can only fit up to five people, it is like a high-class sushi shop!
With the wooden molds for raw and dried sweets on display, learn Japanese sweet making from a craftsman.
There are many Japanese sweets that express the seasons of this country, and asking a craftsman about the thoughts and effort they put into their sweets is a precious opportunity.

Along with the Japanese sweets you have made, this time you can also enjoy Japanese saké! You might wonder, “Do Japanese sweets and Japanese saké go well together?”, so please take this opportunity to experience it.

It is okay if you do not like saké! We also have plans that include matcha green tea or coffee.

〇 Japanese Sweets Making Experience in Nara Hidden Sweets Bar
http://nara-experience.com/detail/index/454
〇Japanese Saké and Japanese Sweets Hidden Sweets Bar
http://nara-experience.com/detail/index/453

※ We also sell guide services, but only for the Japanese language program.

I went to Shorenji Temple in Gojo City, Nara Pref. as part of the “Delicious Summer Rounds” Umashi Natsu Meguri plan.

The origins of Shorenji come from when the wife of Emperor Saga was pregnant, and the emperor prayed to and enshrined Jizo Bosatsu for the safe birth of the prince. After that, this land became known as yorase, or “coming feet”, after Kobo Taishi (Kukai) stopped by Shorenji when he was establishing Mt. Koya. At that time, he prayed for the path to Mt. Koya to be sunny, and even today Shorenji is loved as a temple to pray for clear weather, rain, and safe births.

Now, the main hall is decorated with many yet-to-be-burned teruteru bozu dolls made at an event by college students from Osaka, and these liven up the area around the real Jizo.
The characters for “Shorenji” mean “Life-Lotus-Temple”. In tribute to the name of the temple, its Chief Priest, who is growing 120 varieties and 300 pots of lotuses, is a Doctor of Life Science. In this Umashi Natsu Meguri, after a lecture on lotuses, we viewed the many lotuses on the temple grounds, and were given explanations for each of them.
Among those, the double-headed lotus really left an impression on me. Lotuses usually have one flower per stem, but very rarely a second flower also blooms, and these are called the “double-headed lotus”.

In Nihonshoki, the oldest chronicles of Japan, there is a recording from July, 635 A.D. that says “Congratulations, the lotus in Tsurugi Pond, one stem and two flowers”. As “an omen for something good”, the double-headed lotus has been considered a lucky flower since ancient times, and it has been said that people become happy by just seeing it.
The Chief Priest said, “It is like a four-leaved clover”. It does not pass on its genes, so this flower is limited to one generation and extremely rare. I am happy that I am just able to see it!

We returned to the visitors’ room, and while hearing stories of lotuses that need to be grown in large containers, ones that can grow in small containers, and how difficult it is to know if you can grow them from seeds, we tasted and compared the deep flavors of lotus flower tea, lotus leaf tea, lotus heart tea, and lotus tea. Next, we moved to the main hall and experienced ajikan meditation in front of the object of worship. After the participants have relaxed their mind and body, we ate a special bento lunch from the Michelin 1 star restaurant, Gojo Genbei, to end this blissful plan.

Umashi Natsu Meguri　http://www.nara-umashi.com/summer/lineup/shorenji.html
Shorenji Temple　http://www.ozizou.jp/

On the grounds where “Japan began”, in Asuka Village you can experience plant dyeing using plants that appear in the Man’yoshu.
Surrounded by colorful flowers, this house is called the “Plant Dyeing Research Center”. The teacher makes dyes from various plants everyday and expresses beautiful patterns.

First, choose the material that you like from up to 80 different patterns woven in cotton.
Depending on the material, even the same color or pattern can look completely different. It takes a long time for participants to choose a material…we understand if many catch your eye!

Dyes change depending on the season, but they always have up to eight dyes for participants to use.
When we visited, they had Canadian Goldenrod, Onion Skin, Chestnut Burr, Loquat Bark, Red Rice, Jasmine, and Rubia.
Even if you just say “yellow”, from lemon color to yellow with gold tones, there are a variety of colors in which it can be dyed depending on the plant.
The place is decorated with many works of plant dye, and whether they are works with similar colors, or works that show a gradation of all of the colors, every work is very fascinating!

After the experience, we heard stories about the Man’yo plants that appear in the Man’yoshu and the plants that are used for plant dyeing.
Since the teacher is also a forest instructor who protects the nature of Asuka Village, please ask not only about plants, but also about the beautiful nature of Asuka Village.
From individuals to families and groups of friends, I hope you all have the chance to enjoy this experience!

Details of this program are below: ↓↓

Making a Stole: http://nara-experience.com/detail/index/447

Making a Handkerchief: http://nara-experience.com/detail/index/446

Now, we can meet “Bambi!”, or fawns (baby deer), at Nara Park.
While pregnant deer are protected from an early stage at Roku-en, which provides protection and treatment to deer that are injured or sick, deer are after all wild animals, so there are mother deer who give birth without this protection, and are now taking their children for an early debut at Nara Park.
Of course fawns born at Roku-en will in turn make their debuts at Nara Park, too.

The fawns I met at Nara Park today had a head and body length of 60~70 centimeters. The height of their shoulders was 40 centimeters.
They trotted along with their mothers.

The following was written on a flyer from the Nara Deer Protection Agency, so we adhere to it.

“If you see a fawn (baby deer) in the park, please keep an eye on it.
For two to three weeks after birth, fawns have the habit of spending time hiding in the grass.
Please don’t touch the fawns. If their mothers detect a human scent, they sometimes stop feeding them milk.

Please beware of the mother deer. The mother deer have strong motherly instincts, and sometimes attack those who are just close to their children.
Deer will mistakenly eat garbage, so please take all of your garbage home with you.
The deer inhabiting Nara Park are wild animals and mainly eat grass, nuts and berries of trees, and snack on “shika senbei (deer crackers)”.
Anything else will upset their stomachs, so please don’t feed them anything else.

Indeed, though it may be common sense, we still have the tendency to run and say, “It’s Bambi!” Let’s be careful when we go to the park. Nara Park will continue to be a place to co-exist with deer. The deer are waiting for us at Nara Park anytime. Please come say hello!

Traditional Japanese-style rooms have floors of tatami mats. The mats are made of straw and rush and consist of a thick base and a soft, smooth surface that covers the base. The tatami mats are approximately 180 by 90 centimeters (6 feet by 3 feet). As tatami mats have a standardized size, they can be used to measure room sizes. Then, one mat is referred to as 1 jo and the size of a six-mat room, for example, is expressed as 6 jo. In addition to six-mat rooms, four and a half-mat rooms and eight-mat rooms are the most common in Japanese houses.

The longer sides of the tatami are bordered with cloth. In the old days, the colors and patterns of the cloth depended on the status of the family, but people can chose their favorite colors and patterns freely today. When we walk in a tatami-matted room, it is bad manners to step on the borders. This is because the borders damage and wear easily if they are stepped on.

Tatami mats Feel smooth and never get damp. They are the ideal material for floors in Japanese houses as the humidity is high all year round due to the climate. We can always keep tatami mats in good condition by simply having their surfaces periodically replaced by expert tatami makers. We can enjoy the refreshing scent of woven rush when the surfaces are replaced.

The program of [Experience tatami mats with a craftsman] (No298) give you a chance that you watch closely the artisanship of tatatmi and you make your own mini tatami mat.

* Please check our hands-on experience program
http://nara-experience.com/detail/index/298&ml_lang=en