If you are interested in Japanese history, you cannot miss Nara, first of all.
And then, in Nara, don't miss Asuka village to visit since most of the people tend to forget/give up to visit.
I know perhaps many people just got satisfied with visiting famous historical places in Nara city central. However, Aska village, which is about 40 mins by train from Kintetsu Nara station, can be the origin of Japanese emperor system, Tennoism. (We actually have a huge discussion of where we started our governance system is, but, at least, in 710, it was Nara.)
As a consequence, you will see several old tombs and mounds here and there in Asuka, which you cannot see in such a famous old city, Kyoto.
On the way to your journey of restudying Japanese history, you will find a clean wooden building across the street beside the stone tomb called Ishibutai-kofun tomb. All the menus include the specialties in Asuka, so feel free to choose any one them to taste the sustainable foods from local farmers! You can have them either inside with the smell of wood, or outside with the smell of green. Taste what you ordered by using all your 5 senses! read more
