Naramachi

We boarded a JR-Train from the Shin-Immamiya station and it was a direct train to JR-Nara Station. We transferred to the local train and alighted at Kyobate station as we wanted to explore the Naramachi Area in the morning before exploring Nara Park.

Alighting at Kyobate, we had to navigate through a residential area before reaching the Naramachi area itself. I think that for me, taking a slow walk as we walked through the streets and looking at the local buildings and seeing locals going through their daily routine, commuting on their bicycles, it gave me an insider’s perspective to Japan that I would probably never see if I were just to visit the “typical” tourist hotspots.

Naramachi is a formal merchant district of Nara and the name translates to Town of Nara. Retaining some of the buildings built in the Edo period, this place is a lesser-known part of Nara as compared to the Nara Park. The human traffic was low and most of the people here are locals who are visiting the place for the very first time as well. Restaurants, cafes and museums, and a number of small cemeteries can also be found here.