Sightseeing in Nara for free! Here are 6 great sites that have no entrance fee:
Yoshikien Garden
Yoshikien is a traditional “strolling garden”, right next to the more famous Isuien Garden near the Nara National Museum. It was a part of the Kofukuji Temple complex until anti-Buddhist sentiment during Meiji Period pushed it into private hands. The present grounds and buildings were constructed in 1919 and transferred to the Nara Prefectural Government in 1989. Yoshikien is named for the small Yoshikigawa River that flows through its grounds and contains a moss garden with a thatched roof tea house and stone lanterns, a pond garden containing resting gazebos and the residence of the garden’s former owners, and a tea ceremony garden full of seasonal flowers and deciduous trees that paint the grounds riotous colors in the fall. Free entry is granted to all foreign passport holders when they present their passports at the ticket window. The garden is open everyday from 9am-5pm. It is closed from February 15th-February 28th.
Nara Prefectural Museum of Art
Opened in 1973, the Nara Prefectural Museum of Art is home to a collection of around 4,100 individual pieces including ukiyo-e block prints and other Japanese and east Asian paintings dating from the Edo-era and before, modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures, and more. It also hosts special exhibitions. Foreign passport holders are granted free admission to the museum’s permanent collection when they present their passport at the admission counter. Special exhibitions usually incur an additional fee. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm except on Fridays and Saturdays when it is open until 7pm.
Koshi no Ie Residence
This historic residence in the old Naramachi district is a well preserved example of a late-Edo/early-Meiji era Nara and Kyoto style “machiya” merchant home. The long and narrow design, with a store up front and living spaces in the rear, is a result of the tax system of the period, which assessed taxes based on a structure’s width. Box stairs, a traditional kamado wood-fired stove, family garden and other bits of old Japan provide for a truly immersive time-slip. The Koshi no Ie Residence is free and open to the public from 10am-5pm. It’s closed on Mondays or on the Tuesday following a Monday holiday.
Nara Prefectural Office Rooftop Observatory
The Nara Prefectural Government Office is 6-stories tall and is home to an observatory, a rest space, some small flower gardens, lawns, and benches. Being atop one of the highest buildings in Nara, it offers unobstructed views of Nara Park, the mountains surrounding the Yamato Basin, and Nara City. The observatory is open from 8:30am-5:15pm.
Heijo Palace Site
From 710 until 794 Heijo Palace was the seat of government in Japan. A number of the palace’s structures, including the Suzakumon Gate, Grand Boulevard and Daigokuden Imperial Audience Hall, have been reconstructed to grant visitors a feel for what life was like in 8th century Japan. Artifacts from the archeological excavations at the Heijo Palace site, and the dig sites themselves, can be viewed at three museums on the palace grounds, and the reconstructed Toin-tei-en Garden, originally built by order of the Empress, provides a relaxing place for a meditative stroll. Heijo Palace’s museums, the Daigokuden Imperial Audience Hall and the Toin-tei-en Garden are open from 9am-4:30pm Tuesday-Sunday. They’re closed on Mondays or on the Tuesday following a Monday holiday. Only the Heijokyo History Museum requires a fee. Present your overseas passport at the ticket counter and the fee will be waived.
Nara Park
Entrance to the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji Temple, the inner part of Kasuga Shrine, and the Eastern Golden Hall and Treasure Hall of Kofukuji Temple might cost money, but Nara Park’s sprawling grounds do not. With ~1,240 acres worth of deer-inhabited, nature-filled parkland, plus gardens, temples, shrines and historic buildings to explore, the adventures can seem endless.
Works consulted:
http://www.naramachiinfo.jp/places/detail_29.html (Japanese)
http://www.pref.nara.jp/11842.htm (Japanese)
http://www.pref.nara.jp/secure/80570/okujyo.8.5.pdf (Japanese)
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-parks-gardens/yoshikien
http://www.pref.nara.jp/39910.htm (Japanese)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiki-en
Images
“Bijin zu,” by Soga Shohaku (1760/1769), Nara Prefectural Museum of Art, Nara, Nara, Japan, the photo reproduction of this work of art is in the Public Domain and can be freely accessed at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beauty_by_Soga_Shohaku_(Nara_Prefectural_Museum_of_Art).jpg
“Nara Prefectural Museum of Art in Nara, Nara Prefecture.” This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Degueulasse and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nara_Prefectural_Museum_of_Art_201409.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.
“Lady Yodo-dono (Chacha) (1569?–1615),” this Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image from the Nara Museum of Art is in the Public Domain and is freely available at https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:Yodo-dono_cropped.jpg
Images licensed under Creative Commons 3.0
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode
Heijokyo Suzakumon, created by KENPEI, Wikipedia Creative Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heijokyo_Suzakumon_05.JPG
Tointeien Plaza in Heijyokyo, created by 吉田有岐, Wikipedia Creative Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heijyokyo_Tointeien_Plaza.jpg
Cherry blossoms and rebuilt Suzakumon gete of Heijo-kyo, created by Reggaeman, Wikipedia Creative Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heijokyo_Suzakumon_02.JPG
Images licensed under Creative Commons 2.0
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
The reconstructed Daigokuden on the site of Heijō Palace, created by Tamago Moffle, Flickr Creative Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/tamago-moffle/4804052994/