Visit Nara

Inside this World Heritage treasure house, built from cypress logs in the azekura style, are around 9,000 items of incomparable value, many of them from the Nara period. They include art and rare objects brought along the Silk Road from India, Greece, Persia, Egypt and Rome. After Emperor Shoumu died in 756, his wife, Empress Komyo offered over 600 of his personal possessions to the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple. They were then placed in the repository, where they have been kept for 1200 years. Although it isn’t open to public view, a selection of objects are shown at the Nara National Museum each autumn.