Nara Prefecture (奈良県) Travel Guide

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Nara Prefecture (奈良県) is a prefecture in the Kansai Region, on the island of Honshu in Japan. It is 3,691 sq km, placing it in 40th position in terms of size among the prefectures of the country.

Murouji Niomon, Nara Prefecture
Author: KENPEI (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Nara Prefecture is bordered by Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the west, Wakayama Prefecture to the south and Mie Prefecture to the east. It is located in the middle of the Kii Peninsula. As the prefecture is mountainous, it only has inhabitable area totalling 851 sq km, the smallest of any prefectures in Japan. Within Nara Prefecture is Mount Hokkyo, which at 1,915 m is the tallest mountain in the Kansai Region.

Nara Prefecture has a population of 1.4 million, and is the 29th most populous prefecture. Its capital and biggest city is Nara, which serves as the site of several ancient capitals of Japan, including Asuka-kyo, Fujiwara-kyo and Heijo-kyo.

Isuien and Nandaimon, Nara
Author: Gribeco (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Going to Nara Prefecture

By Plane
The Kansai International Airport offers the best connection if you are flying in from overseas. Otherwise Osaka's Itami Airport offers numerous domestic flights. From Kansai Airport, you can taka a limousine bus to Nara train station. It leaves every hour, costs ¥1,800 and takes 1 1/2 hours. From Itami airport, the limousine buses cost ¥1,440 and takes an hour.

By Train
To reach Nara, you can first take the train to Kyoto and from there change to the JR Nara Line of the private Kintetsu Kyoto Line. Of the two, the latter is better suited. There are two trains per hour for the 35-minute journey.

Cherry blossoms in Nara Park
Author: Humanoid one (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Cities of Nara Prefecture

Nara - prefectural capital
Gojo
Gose
Ikoma
Kashiba
Kashihara
Katsuragi
Sakurai
Tenri
Uda
Yamatokoriyama
Yamatotakada

Tourist Attractions of Nara Prefecture

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