Date visited: September 3 (Thu)–5 (Sat), 2026
Weather: Rain on the first day, with occasional heavy showers
I arrived in Nara.
Rain.
And then—
Wait. Where are the deer?
Where did they go?
…There they were.
Even the deer were taking shelter from the rain.
Apparently, humans and deer think alike on rainy days.
This trip to Nara was a little different from my usual travels.
I had to stay in Nara for a work trip, so I added an extra day off and arrived a little early.
It wasn’t my first time in Nara.
I had visited Tōdai-ji before, and I had already met the Great Buddha.
But this time, I thought,
Maybe I’ll go and see the Great Buddha one more time.
Following This Nara Trip on the Map
This was a three-day trip with a little travel added to a work trip.
From Tōdai-ji to little detours around Naramachi, the restaurants where I ate, and the hotel where I stayed.
Walk, eat, rest, then walk again.
I put all the places I stopped at during these three days on a Google My Map.
“Hmm, that place looks interesting.”
If anything catches your eye, perhaps it can inspire your next trip to Nara.
Into Rainy Nara
After arriving at Kintetsu Nara Station, my first stop was Hotel Tenpyo Naramachi, where I would be staying.
It was still too early to check in, but I left my luggage there first.
My reservation was confirmed, and now I could walk around without worrying about the time.
Best of all—
No luggage. I was free.
By the time I checked in later, they had even taken my luggage up to my room.
Much appreciated.
Now, umbrella in hand, I headed toward Nara Park.
Many visitors who seemed to have come from overseas were wearing raincoats instead of carrying umbrellas.
And there were the deer from the beginning of this story, sheltering from the rain.
Look under one big tree, and there they were.
Under another, more deer.
I also saw quite a few young deer that day.
It wasn’t only the deer—the park seemed quieter than usual, too.
Perhaps this was a side of Nara you only see on a rainy day.
Still,
rain does make walking difficult.
And one surprisingly annoying thing is the umbrella.
Fold it every time you enter a building.
Open it again every time you leave.
This time, I had brought a case from a 100-yen shop for storing a wet folding umbrella.
Umbrella into the case.
Case into my backpack.
Both hands free.
That turned out to be very useful.
A Free Place to Take a Break
On my way to Tōdai-ji, I decided to stop at the Okumura Commemorative Museum.
(🌐 Official website: Okumura Commemorative Museum)
Admission is free.
The exhibits themselves didn’t feel particularly extensive to me.
But—
It was air-conditioned.
There were places to sit and rest.
Water and tea were available.
And the restrooms were clean.
When you’re walking around Nara Park in the rain, all of that is very welcome.
There was also an interactive exhibit where visitors could experience how seismic isolation works, but people were waiting for it, so I skipped it this time.
When traveling, it’s easy to keep looking only for places to see.
But simply knowing about a place where you can stop and rest for a while can make a trip much easier.
After my break, I headed back out into the rain.
Time to meet the Great Buddha.
Yes, He Really Is Huge
I arrived at Tōdai-ji’s Great Buddha Hall.
(🌐 Official website: Tōdai-ji)
(🌐 Official website: Tōdai-ji – Great Buddha Hall)
I stepped inside and looked up at the Great Buddha.
No matter how many times I see him—
He really is huge.
Apparently, I still have nothing more original to say.
The Great Buddha and His Many Faces?
I looked at him from the front.
Moved slightly to one side.
Looked again.
Wait.
His face looks different.
I stood directly in front of him.
To me, he looked almost a little playful.
I moved slightly to the side.
Now he seemed to be smiling.
I changed position again, and suddenly he looked a little intimidating.
Of course, the Great Buddha’s expression wasn’t actually changing.
What changed was the angle.
And perhaps the person looking at him—me.
When I visited this place before, what kind of expression did I see?
I don’t remember anymore.
But today, this is how he looks to me.
I thought I was looking at the Great Buddha’s expression,
but perhaps I was really looking at myself as I am now.
I’ve already seen it once. That’s enough.
That’s easy to think about a place you’ve already visited.
But perhaps coming back isn’t such a bad idea.
Crawling Through the Pillar — Something I Couldn’t Do Last Time
Inside the Great Buddha Hall is a huge wooden pillar with a hole through its base.
The last time I came here, there was a long line.
I watched adults struggling to squeeze through and thought,
“Hmm… I think I’ll skip that.”
That’s what I remember, anyway.
But this time, when I looked over, there was hardly anyone there.
Should I try?
If I failed now, at least there wouldn’t be many people watching.
While I was still hesitating, a young man came over.
He apparently wanted to film himself going through, so he let me go first.
All right.
Here I go.
Turn sideways and—
Oh?
I slipped through much more easily than I expected.
Then I went around to the other side and filmed the young man as he came through.
We were complete strangers, yet somehow we ended up helping each other crawl through a hole in a giant temple pillar.
Things like this happen sometimes when you travel.
But just a little while later—
I noticed that people had gathered around the pillar again.
They were even applauding when someone made it through.
If I had arrived only a few minutes later, I probably wouldn’t have tried it.
Another matter of travel timing.
By the way—
“Were we supposed to make a wish while crawling through?”
Neither of us really knew.
I looked it up afterward. According to Tōdai-ji, the hole is said to be the same size as one of the Great Buddha’s nostrils, and passing through it is traditionally believed to make you wiser.
So it wasn’t about making a wish.
In that case—
I’d like an extra helping of memory, please.
Into the Tōdai-ji Museum
This time, I bought a combination ticket for the Great Buddha Hall and the Tōdai-ji Museum.
(🌐 Official website: Tōdai-ji Museum)
Inside the museum were many different Buddhist statues.
What caught my attention most were their faces.
Gentle.
Some even seemed almost feminine to me.
I had spent so much time looking at the Great Buddha’s face in the hall, and here I was, looking at faces again.
Buddhist statues differ depending on when and where they were created.
But sometimes, even before reading the explanation, I find myself thinking,
“I like this face.”
Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the museum.
So I can’t show you the statues I saw here. If you’d like to learn more about the exhibits, please visit Tōdai-ji’s official website.
Around the museum, there are also places to rest, a shop, and a café.
On a rainy day, it’s nice to include places like these as breaks along the way.
Visiting the Same Place Again
When you think of Nara—
Deer.
And the Great Buddha.
They’re so famous that after seeing them once, it’s easy to think,
“Been there. Done that.”
At first, I felt the same way.
I had already seen the Great Buddha.
So what should I see this time?
That was how I arrived in Nara.
But meeting him again felt different.
The Great Buddha hadn’t changed.
Nara hadn’t changed either.
Maybe I was the one who had changed.
Going back to a place you’ve already visited.
Looking at the same thing again, as the person you are now.
That kind of travel can be surprisingly interesting.
And now—
I had met the Great Buddha.
I had met the deer.
So,
what lies beyond the Great Buddha and the deer in Nara?
That was where this trip really started to get interesting.
→ 【Stopover Journey | Nara, Part Two】 (Coming soon)
What I Ate That Day
For lunch, I went to a place I had been curious about for some time.
Rice porridge and more than 20 kinds of Japanese pickles.
And even better—
it was a buffet.
Which means…
The food fighter has entered the ring.
A little of this, a little of that.
I tried to taste as many as I could.
So which one was my favorite?
…Actually,
it wasn’t one of the pickles.
→ 【🍵Beauty & Taste | Nara | 20+ Pickles at a Buffet. Food Fighter Mode: Activated!】
👉 Related illustrations here
(Free to use)
▶︎ 🎨View illustration page