Kasuga Taisha

Vermilion shrine set inside Nara's primeval forest, lined by roughly 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns that climb the approach. Established 768 as the Fujiwara clan's tutelary shrine, it stands at the foot of Mt. Mikasa where the surrounding Kasugayama forest has been protected as sacred for over a millennium and now sits within the UNESCO Nara World Heritage area. The main shrine buildings were ritually rebuilt every 20 years in the shikinen-zōtai tradition until the modern era and remain the cleanest example of Kasuga-zukuri architecture. The subsidiary Wakamiya shrine, deeper in the trees, hosts December's Onmatsuri, one of Nara's central annual rites. During Mantoro, all 3,000 lanterns are lit twice a year (early February and mid-August), and the approach reads as a corridor of fire. Deer move freely through the grounds and are considered messengers of the shrine's deities. Arrive at opening to walk the lantern path before the day's tour groups.