Nara Student Guide

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Nara Student Guide Hi！
Thank you for your access. Nara Student Guide is a volunteer group consists of the university students who live in Nara.

🦌Free English tours available ↓
🦌Volunteer group
🦌Uni students
🦌Show you around famous and historical places in Nara Japan

Please book our tour from the link below! Our main activity is walking around famous and traditional places in Nara with foreign tourists introducing the historical backgrounds in English. If you are interested in Nara, Japan or virtual tours, why not join us? We hope to enjoy talking with you.

【please fill this form and reserve our tour】
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecZz07SACIlhS5xPvC7QBG4T5q1b7MKBxJO5Tp-YOrPqcByA/viewform

*if you have any questions, please e-mail us ([email protected]) or contact us on IG() !

Hello! I guided a friendly family from Australia🇦🇺 Japan was the first foreign country for the youngest daughter to visi...
05/10/2026

Hello! I guided a friendly family from Australia🇦🇺 Japan was the first foreign country for the youngest daughter to visit. I was really honored to be one of her first foreign memories🥰 ⁡
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They tried to feed deers. Surprisingly, they bought over ten bunches of deer crackers in total!! The eldest daughter keep them in her bag and handed some of them to other children. They tried it everywhere they saw deers! 
Also, they told me about animals in their town. Most of them are poisonous and dangerous such as jellyfish, snakes and sometimes kangaroos. In addition, some of them are far bigger than one in Japan. We found a big(to me) spider in Todaiji temple. Its size was about five to seven centimeters and it looked so huge one. But they said it was still a child in Australia😱 I cannot imagine!!

We visited Todaiji temple and Kasugataisha shrine.

Around Todaiji temple, there was a b**r festival🍻 We dropped in the festival and the parents enjoyed some cups of b**r! Also, children, especially the son and the youngest daughter, tried water balloon fishing. They got one each and tried to play with it. I taught how to play and they got to be good at it soon! I was happy that they enjoyed Japanese toy! Finally the balloons burst, but they seemed to enjoy the explosion as well.

We went to Kasugataisha shrine after we enjoyed the festival. We met their friend's family who spent time in Tokyo with them😳 Can you believe it!? They traveled Tokyo together and the one went to Osaka and the other went to Kyoto. They visited Nara in same day! Such a coincidence!!
One of the daughters of the family took a picture of the youngest daughter of my tourists and me and gave it to me!! It must be one of my treasure✨

Although it was not a reserved guide, they hugged me in the end of the tour. It was really nice to meet them! 
Thank you so much for your time. Have a nice stay!
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Hi there! We guided a lovely family from the U.S.🇺🇸The family, other than one daughter, is living in Washington D.C. and...
28/09/2026

Hi there! We guided a lovely family from the U.S.🇺🇸

The family, other than one daughter, is living in Washington D.C. and they told us there are so many museums called Smithsonian. They were seemed like museum street, but the family said they are museum mall rather! I really love to see exhibitions in museum so they are so attractive fo me✨

Actually, the parents were from India and they told me many thing about India🇮🇳 The most interesting thing for me was sari, traditional Indian clothes. They showed us some pictures when they took part in some party, I think it was wedding, and they were so beautiful😍 Sari is just a cloth which has about 6 meters length and they wrap the cloth around their bodies. The mother can wear it in 5 to 10 minutes! How rapid! Also, the pattern of sari is different depends on the area. As I'm learning about Kimono, it was very interesting to know some similarities and differences between sari and Kimono.

We visited Kohfukuji temple and Todaiji temple. 

Firstly, we visited Kohfukuji temple. Our trial guide tried to explain central-golden hall in the temple. Thanks to her explanation, we decided to go in the hall. Actually, I rarely go inside of that hall so it was very fresh experience for me as well. Also, I realized that Sanskrit and Hindi are similar to each other. The father knew how to read the name of some statue and what they mean. I think it's because Buddhism was born in India.

After lunch, we went to Todaiji temple. We saw the replica of base of great Buddha. The shape is lotus flower and the father told me his name came from lotus in Sanskrit. Lotus flower could be sacred or has good meaning in both of Japan and India.
At lunch time the mother said one of their daughter is loved by animals and many animals approach to her. As if to prove that, one deer approached her and bit her skirt😱 It looked like the deer tried to catch her attention!

Surprisingly, two days before this day was their mother's birthday! Two daughters and their father planned this trip for her birthday present🎁 I'm really happy to be a part of the present!
Thank you for your time!!⁡
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Hello! I bumped into a friendly Russian couple from the U.S.🇷🇺🇺🇸They came to Japan for husband's conference. Surprisingl...
24/09/2026

Hello! I bumped into a friendly Russian couple from the U.S.🇷🇺🇺🇸
They came to Japan for husband's conference. Surprisingly, the conference was held in Niigata prefecture, which is my hometown!! 

They were from New Mexico state. Did you know some states of the U.S., such as California, Texas and of course New Mexico, used be parts of Mexico? Actually, I didn't. I had been thinking that New Mexico state has something to do with Mexico because of the name, but I had no idea about that😳 At the border of 2 countries, there is a check point on the road. As Japan is an island country, I cannot imagine that!

We visited Todaiji temple and Kasugataisha shrine. 

Firstly, we went to Todaiji temple. Although it had been very crowded until one day before, it was a little bit empty because it was the last day of holidays. 
Before we arrived at the temple, they tried feeding deers in Nara park. They had known they should go  deeper in the park when they try feeding. That made them easy to feed deers calmly! It seemed like they, especially the wife, liked doing that and she tried again on the way to Todaiji temple.

At lunch time, we shared our food culture, Japanese one and Russian one. The wife told me she loves Japanese cuisine and always goes to Japanese restaurant when she goes out for meal. Also they told me about Russian food such as borscht, beets soup and pelmeni, which is like dumplings. I had known about borscht a bit, but pelmeni was new for me. Pelmeni is kind of food similar to Gyoza and three kinds of meats are used. They use different meats depends on the area. In the area where the wife was from, they are beef, pork and turkey. On the other hand, in Siberia where the husband was from, they are beef, pork and bear!
It was really interesting for me✨

It was my first time to guide Russian people and everything was new!
I really enjoyed to spend time with them. Thank you for letting me guide you.
Have a nice stay!
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Hi everyone! I guided a lovely tourist from Italy🇮🇹As it was a day in long holidays, we didn't visit Todaiji temple to a...
23/09/2026

Hi everyone! I guided a lovely tourist from Italy🇮🇹

As it was a day in long holidays, we didn't visit Todaiji temple to avoid crowd. Although it was crowded everywhere other than Todaiji temple as well, we spent wonderful time together!

We visited Kasugataisha shrine, Isuien garden, Kohfukuji temple and traditional Japanese house in Naramachi area.

In Kasugataisha shrine, she showed me her Goshuin-cho book, she had collected some of them already in Osaka. She added her new collection from Kasugataisha shrine. Also, she bought an amulet there. The amulet was for health both for body and mind. I hope it works🤞At the time, she got 2 thousand-yen bill as her change. That bill is rarely seen and I have seen it less than ten times in my life😳

In Isuien garden, we talked about hot springs. She loved them and told that there are some hot springs in Italy as well! As we have so many great ones in Japan, I'd like her to visit some when she come to Japan next time!

We had Kakinoha sushi and Somen noodle as lunch. She had known the noodle already but it was her first time to try it. I think she liked it. 
She told me about some Italian cuisines. She was from Rome and there are three types of typical pasta. One of them was well-known all over the world, Carbonara. I was interested the best in Cacio-e-pepe. It'a kind of pasta with cheese and pepper. She showed me sode photos of the pasta and they looked really tasty😋 I'd like to try it if I visit Italy!

Thank you so much for sharing your time! I hope the rest of your stay will be wonderful. Take care and enjoy your stay!

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Hi there! I guided tourists from Philippines and their Japanese colleagues.We met at Todaiji temple by chance. Some of t...
21/09/2026

Hi there! I guided tourists from Philippines and their Japanese colleagues.

We met at Todaiji temple by chance. Some of them spoke to me and everyone accepted me as their guide warmly.

Everyone, even Japanese, seemed to be interested in Todaiji temple and listened my explanation with interests.
Surprisingly, some of them watched a TV show which introduces Todaiji temple and they had knew some of my explanations. The TV show was held just 2 days ago😳 What a coincidence!!

When I explained Binzuru statue, being outside of Great-Buddha hall, some of them tried to touch everywhere😂 Also another one wanted to touch the head same as me. I always wish I could touch the head. Seemed like everyone have a same idea.

Although we spent time together only in Todaiji temple, it was fulfilling time for me.
I hope their trip will be a great one!
Thank you for having me as your guide.⁡
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Hello everyone! I guided a amazing couple from Israel🇮🇱In Israel, many people speak Hebrew. They told me some interestin...
21/09/2026

Hello everyone! I guided a amazing couple from Israel🇮🇱

In Israel, many people speak Hebrew. They told me some interesting things about Hebrew. Did you know that Hebrew was spoken over 2000 years ago. In addition, this is the most amazing point of Hebrew, the language had been extinct once, but it revived about 100 years ago! Can you believe!? They said Hebrew is the only one language which came back😳

We visited Kasugataisha shrine, Todaiji temple and strolled around Naramachi area a bit.

In Kasugataisha shrine, we saw a tree penetrating roof. In Shintoism, we think everything has its own spirits and cherish nature. That's why people didn't cut the tree, but instead, they made a hole for the tree. In Israel, people cannot cut trees even if the tree was in personal garden! They need permissions from government. Also, it is prohibited to pick wild flowers, especially anemones and cyclamens because the flower was about to be extinct😱

We went to Todaiji temple after Kasugataisha shrine. There are four guardians called "Ten" in Great-Buddha hall in each direction and the northern guardian is the strongest one. I asked why he is the strongest one as a quiz. They answered based on old bible. The old bible says disasters and calamities come from the direction  of North. That was news to me and it was really interesting to know about viewpoint of other religion and culture.

They told me they had a guide in Kyoto as well, and that's why, they had known the reason why Niou statues in Todaiji temple and lion-shaped statues in Kasugataisha shrine have one with opening its mouth and one with closing its mouth. But the explanation seemed to be a little different, and the guide explained that it's because when human are  born everyone cries with opening month and when we die, we can't say anything. That means the guardians protecting everything. That was new perspective to me.

Although it might be a little tiring to come to Nara because of some delay of trains, thank you so much for coming and letting me guide you!!
I hope rest of your stay will be wonderful one as well✨
Thank you again for everything!

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I, who is an apprentice, guided two tourists from Italy! We vlsited Kofuku-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Todai-ji Tem...
20/09/2026

I, who is an apprentice, guided two tourists from Italy! We vlsited Kofuku-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Todai-ji Temple, Yoshiki-en Garden, and Naramachi Nigiwai⁡-no-ie House. I was pretty surprised to actually see how Italian people like to take a sip of coffee while sightseeing!⁡
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Hello! We met a wonderful couple from Australia🇦🇺They told us we can see wild kangaroos in their town like deers in Nara...
19/09/2026

Hello! We met a wonderful couple from Australia🇦🇺

They told us we can see wild kangaroos in their town like deers in Nara🦘 However, they are far more aggressive than deers so we have to be careful. In addition, we can feed some grass to them in some zoo. I cannot imagine how to feed them but it must be fun and interesting✨

We visited Todaiji temple and Kasugataisha shrine.

On the way to Todaiji temple, the woman showed me her Goshuin-cho, Japanese stamp book, and some stamps on it. It seems like she really enjoys to collect them. Of course she got one in Todaiji temple. Actually, this trip was her second one and she didn't know about Goshuin, the stamp, when she came to Japan for the first time.
They had interests in everything in Todaiji temple and asked me before I explain them! That made me happy because I could feel they were listening my explanations intently with interests.

After we visit Todaiji temple, we went to Kasugataisha shrine. We tried Shintoism way to pray. Also, behind its main shrine, there was a shrine which has a deity of weather and we prayed there because on the day they move to Tokyo from Kyoto is supposed to be hit by a typhoon😭 I hope it'll be sunny and their stay will be great one.

Lastly, we went back to Kintestsu Nara station. And we saw a cafe selling macarons! They bought us some of them. It was really nice🙌

Although it was a sudden and short time, we enjoyed sharing time with them.
We hope the rest of your trip will be safe and nice one.
Thank you for accepting us as your guide!!

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¡Hola! It's been a while, but we had a warm group of family and friends from Mexico 🇲🇽✨⁡⁡⁡⁡We visited Todaiji Temple.⁡⁡W...
17/09/2026

¡Hola! It's been a while, but we had a warm group of family and friends from Mexico 🇲🇽✨⁡
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⁡We visited Todaiji Temple.⁡
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While I was standing at Todaiji Temple, they spoke to me. One of them had lived in Mexico but recently moved to Japan for work. He was showing his friend’s family around Japan. Although we mainly communicated in English, we sometimes talked in Japanese and Spanish! He and I sometimes talked in Japanese, he shared what he found interesting with the family in Spanish, and I enjoyed learning Spanish by listening to them. I am learning Spanish, so I also tried speaking some simple Spanish myself. I wish I could speak more, but I truly enjoyed hearing its sounds!⁡ 🥹✨
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During the tour, I asked them many questions, and they were eager to share their ideas. I really appreciated how active, energetic, and warm they were! 😌💖 Some were closer to my age, and we enjoyed talking about Pokémon, animals, lifestyles, schools, and more. Thank you for being friendly and talking with me a lotl!⁡ 🥰✨
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The funniest thing was the father's jokes 🤣 Even during lunchtime, he kept making jokes, and I could hardly eat 🤣🤣 At first, I sometimes took his jokes literally and was surprised 😳🤣, but as I got used to his personality and sense of humor, I realized that he was a very polite person and began to understand his jokes better 🤣✨
Since I had taken his jokes seriously at first, the other members tried hard to explain like, "He’s just joking!" "Stop saying that 😮‍💨🤣" "He said that because …" Their efforts and reactions made the situation even more hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 I felt that they were really kind, polite, and warm. Thanks to him, I got to experience how warm a Mexican family is! 🤣💖⁡
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They taught me some Mexican phrases, such as "¡A huevo!", "¿Qué onda?", and "¡Qué kukis!" 🤣 They were discussing what would be okay to share with me and really adorable 🤣💞⁡
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I’ve always liked Mexico and hoped to visit someday, but this experience made me want to go even more!!⁡
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Los quiero mucho 🥹💖💖💖 ¡Qué bonito día con ustedes!
¡Gracias por todo! 🫂✨⁡
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Hey guys! I guided a kind person from Australia 🇦🇺We visited Kasugataisha Shrine, Himuro Shrine, Yoshiki-en Garden, and ...
16/09/2026

Hey guys! I guided a kind person from Australia 🇦🇺
We visited Kasugataisha Shrine, Himuro Shrine, Yoshiki-en Garden, and Kofukuji Temple.

First, we went to Kasugataisha Shrine⛩️. The weather was perfect for walking, so we went there on foot. Since he had already been in Nara for a few days, he had already fed the deer! 🦌 There were many deer on the way to Kasugataisha Shrine, and he petted some of them. ☺️

At Kasugataisha Shrine, he was interested in Shintoism. He already knew about Shintoism and told me that there is meaning behind many things in Shinto.:) He was surprised to learn about one of the deities who came to Nara riding on a sacred white deer. He was wondering why there are so many deer in Nara, so I was happy to explain the story and tell him that the deer in Nara are believed that they are offspring of the white deer. 😊

After that, we went to Himuro Shrine. ⛩️ He knew about paper fortunes, but there is a special type of fortune here where people place the paper on an ice cube. 🧊 Since he had never tried it before, we tried it!

We also visited Yoshiki-en Garden. 🌱 He had already been to another garden, but he told me that he preferred this garden! I was really happy that I could introduce it to him.
There is a tea ceremony room in the garden, and when I showed him the entrance, he was so surprised. 😳 The entrance was very small! There is a reason for its small size, so I explained it to him, and he said it made sense. ✨

Then, we headed to a restaurant which served sashimi, since it’s one of his favorite foods! 🍣 He tried a sashimi set and was impressed by the meal because it came with so many small dishes! He told me it was the best meal he had had in Japan. ✨

Next, we went to Kofukuji Temple. He told me that while traveling around the world, he had spent time with monks and learned about Buddhism. It was really interesting to hear about his experiences!

It was my pleasure to show him around Nara! I hope he continues to enjoy the rest of his trip! 🥰

住所

奈良県奈良市樽井町 14
Nara-shi, Nara
630-8218

営業時間

月曜日 10:00 - 17:00
火曜日 10:00 - 17:00
水曜日 10:00 - 17:00
木曜日 10:00 - 17:00
金曜日 10:00 - 17:00
土曜日 10:00 - 17:00
日曜日 10:00 - 17:00

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