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Tōshōdai-ji Temple
唐招提寺Nara · Kansai
Tōshōdai-ji is the head temple of the Ritsu school, one of the six Buddhist schools of ancient Nara, founded in 759 by the Chinese monk Ganjin on land the imperial court granted him from Prince Nitabe's former residence. Its Kondō was completed late in the 8th century under Nyohō, one of Ganjin's disciples, and it survives together with the lecture hall as Nara-period architecture rather than a later reconstruction. The temple was established as a place to train monks in the Buddhist precepts rather than as a devotional destination, and it stands in western Nara by Nishinokyō Station, away from the cluster of sites around Nara Park.
- Best season
- Year-round
- Crowd level
- Moderate
- Rating
- 4.5· 4,697 reviews
- Opening hours
- Daily 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
- Nearest station
- Nishinokyō Station · 10 min walk
- Website
- toshodaiji.jp
Usual hours — confirm with the official site for holidays + seasonal closures.
Today
8:30–16:30Stored weekly hours
Daily 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
How to get there
From Shin-Osaka Station · ~41 min by car
Tags
templehistory
Location
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