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When visiting the Kansai region, most people will stop by at Osaka and Kyoto. However, Nara is becoming a popular tourist destination too, filled with rich history, temples, shrines, and deers.

Japan’s first permanent capital was established in the year 710 at Heijo, the city now known as Nara (奈良). Nara is located less than one hour from Kyoto and Osaka. Due to its past as the first permanent capital, it remains full of historic treasures, including some of Japan’s oldest and largest temples.

Source: Japan-Guide.com

We began our day in Osaka, with a nice convenience store breakfast. I chose choco cream bread lunch pack, which was delicious! Because chocolate and bread are two combinations I totes approve.

Nom nom. We then took the train (we had a JR Pass, which was handy, however isn’t necessary if you’re only going to be around the Kansai area) to Nara. We picked that particular day due to the Kasuga Wakamiya On Matsuri…

The On-Matsuri is a festival held at Wakamiya-jinja Shrine which stands in the precincts of the Kasuga Taisha Grand Shrine. It was first organized in the 12th Century when an epidemic prevailed, and prayers were offered at this festival for the eradication of the plague and also for the blessing of a rich harvest. This historic festival continues to be one of the largest annual events of Nara Prefecture, attracting a great many tourists.

Source: Japan National Tourism Organization

It was a sunny afternoon. And there were hundreds of people around the street-side. They were waiting for the procession that is meant to be the highlight of the Kasuga Wakamiya On Matsuri…

On the afternoon of the 17th [December], there is a splendid Jidai Gyrotesu (Procession of the Eras) in which customs and manners of each era are reproduced by more than 500 people in total. Here, you can have a glimpse into how fashion changed from the Heian Period to the Edo Period, in other words, from the 9th Century to the 19th Century.

Source: Japan National Tourism Organization

We couldn’t find a spot on the street side because the locals seem to have queued there since early morning. So we decided to go to a higher ground for a better viewing spot…

We did find a pretty good spot and after about 10 minutes of waiting, the procession began with women wearing kimono and kids wearing traditional costumes walking on the main street.

I truly enjoyed taking photographs during the procession, as there were so many interesting traditional costumes and customs greeting us.

It really was a walk through the eras, I guess. One of my fondest memories were these women walking with their hat covering most of their faces, wearing traditional red costumes… One of them stopped elegantly to give us a glimpse of her face.

There were men and women, young and old, participating in the procession. So cool! かっこい〜！

Many of them rode horses and looked uber cool. Somehow I was most impressed again by the women and their headpieces.

There were also archers and those carrying banners and colourful cultural pieces…

And also… the men, not wanting to lose to the women in the most impressive headpiece department, started marching with very omoshiroi hats.

Even the kids had pretty cool hats too. Seriously!

Anyways, moving on… We also saw some really cool men in warrior-like armours during the procession.

The most impressive award goes to the really huge swords plus some really long spears.

They looked so cool carrying those! Although, not sure what the purpose of the huge sword is.

The procession came to an end and I was so glad that we decided to do a day trip to Nara on the day Kasuga Wakamiya On Matsuri was held. I love festivals, but this was the first procession through the ages that I’ve ever been to in Japan!

It was really cold, by the way, so do wear enough warm clothing if you would like to watch the procession. You would be waiting for a while for it to start and then a little longer to watch the whole thing. So you know, be wise to your body! ;)

We started making our way to Nara Park, where the famous Nara deers roam free. More on the deers in my next blog post!

For now, let’s continue the festival spirit as we spotted many of the people who were involved in the procession still in their traditional costumes. Like these little ones…

Many horses were parked around the park (yeah, punny!) and quite a few people crowded around the area to take photos. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t actually that crowded, so I did get a good view…

Remember these kids with funky hats?

Like a bawse!!! So awesome. We also saw the warriors and their horses.

Kakkoiiii!! So cool. Ha. Also looking totally cool, the sword-bearers…

But my photo of the day would have to be this particular one… I guess being a part of the procession must’ve been really tiring!

I love how odd this photo is. An old man in a costume from centuries ago looking bored while checking his mobile phone.

Oh and of course, some really cool shots of the horses because the horses are worth mentioning.

All in all, if you do visit Nara during the festival, do stroll towards the park after the procession to get a better close up!

As promised, the next post will cover some of these cute deers. So do wait for that in the next week or so!

Kasuga Wakamiya On Matsuri happens annually in Nara during the month of December. The procession (and other cool stuff we didn’t get to check out) is held on December 17 and it’s worth going if you love Japanese culture.