Katsuragi City, at the western edge of the Nara Basin and foot of Mt. Nijo, is known as the “Birthplace of Sumo,” recorded in Japan’s oldest official history, “Nihon Shoki.” The local “Taima-dera Temple” is a renowned site housing Japan’s oldest stone lantern and National Treasures from the Hakuho period, a mystical place with legends of mandalas. Surrounded by lush mountains, peaceful rural landscapes spread, and in autumn, the sunset over Mt. Nijo dyes the town golden. With traditional agriculture and fermentation culture still active, it’s a heartwarming area where the calm daily life unique to regional Japanese cities harmonizes with deep spiritual culture continuing from ancient times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Katsuragi City, at the western edge of the Nara Basin and foot of Mt. Nijo, is known as the “Birthplace of Sumo,” recorded in Japan’s oldest official history, “Nihon Shoki.” The local “Taima-dera Temple” is a renowned site housing Japan’s oldest stone lantern and National Treasures from the Hakuho period, a mystical place with legends of mandalas. Surrounded by lush mountains, peaceful rural landscapes spread, and in autumn, the sunset over Mt. Nijo dyes the town golden. With traditional agriculture and fermentation culture still active, it’s a heartwarming area where the calm daily life unique to regional Japanese cities harmonizes with deep spiritual culture continuing from ancient times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1329],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nara"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n