With a towering five-story and three-story pagoda, Kofuku-ji was founded in Nara sometime in 730, and was the family shrine of the respectable Fujiwara clan. The complex used to have more than a hundred buildings during its heydays, and while it was rebuilt in the 15th century, its historical significance continues to remain intact with the pagoda serving as the focus of Nara city. In fact, this five storied pagoda is the second largest of its kind in Japan, standing gracefully at 50 m. Kofuku-ji’s octagonal halls are some thousands of years old, and possesses several important artefacts of the temple. The elegant Eastern Golden Hall on the other hand houses a massive wooden statue of the Yakushi Buddha. Its Central Golden Hall, unfortunately, bore the brunt of a destructive fire and is still under construction and should be open to the public by 2018. One of the most important aspects of the complex is the National Treasure Museum which has an extensive and staggering collection of Buddhist art.

Kofuku ji is a 20-minute walk from the JR Nara Station, and is a mere 5 minutes from Kintetsu Nara by foot. The Eastern Golden Hall and the National Treasure Museum are open from 9 am till 5 pm, and you would have to shell out 800 Yen in order to see both.