🏔️ Nature

Yoshikien Garden

Nara, Japan

About Yoshikien Garden

Three small gardens — a pond garden, a moss garden and a tea-ceremony flower garden — on the site of a former monk's residence next to Isuien. It's free for foreign visitors on showing a passport, rarely crowded and especially pretty in autumn. Allow half an hour and combine it with Isuien and Todai-ji, a few minutes' walk away.

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📍Noboriōji-chō, Nara, Nara, Japan

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Why it works for solo travelers

✓ Comfortable to visit on your own.
✓ Free to visit.

More solo-friendly nature in Nara →Nara solo travel guide →

Quick info

Price range

Free

More Nature in Nara

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Nara Park & Deer

A large park at the foot of Mount Wakakusa where more than 1,000 wild sika deer roam freely among the temples, regarded as sacred messengers of the gods. Deer crackers (shika-senbei) are sold around the park; bow and the deer often bow back. They can nip or butt, though, so hold the crackers out of reach and don't tease them.

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Isuien Garden

A strolling garden beside Todai-ji, laid out in two parts from the 17th and 19th centuries, that 'borrows' the roof of Todai-ji's Nandaimon gate and the Wakakusa and Kasuga hills as its backdrop. Ponds, stepping stones and teahouses make it one of Nara's calmest spots, and the ticket includes the small Neiraku Museum of Chinese and Korean ceramics.

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Mount Wakakusa

A 342m grassy hill at the eastern edge of Nara Park, open from the third Saturday of March to the second Sunday of December for a small fee. A short but steep climb leads to wide views over the city and Todai-ji's roof, lovely at sunset. In January the whole hillside is set alight during the Yamayaki grass-burning festival.

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