Weird Fish

This morning we took a train to the small town of Horyu-ji, to visit the temple which contains the oldest surviving wooden structures in the world, according to the publicity. As the extra of the main hall and 5 storey pagoda shows, they are remarkably well-preserved.

The main blip is a detail of the roof carvings that adorn the roofs of the gateways all around the site and there’s an extra of the face that is under this weird fish helmet. The belief is that the water-related motif is meant to protect the building from fire.

We spent the afternoon back at Nara exploring the old merchant’s part of the town, the Naramachi district, which contains many of the old wooden buildings from the late 19th century. The final extra shows a detail of the garden in one of the houses, through a typical bamboo screen.

Once back at the hotel we made use of the onsen again before a pre-dinner drink at the bar and another okonomiyaki based dinner at a restaurant in the Main Street.