Kasuga Taisha

Kasuga Taisha stands in the forest on the eastern edge of Nara Park, where the sacred Mount Mikasa rises in front of the Kasugayama Primeval Forest. It is the head of about 3,000 Kasuga shrines across Japan and was for centuries the clan shrine of the Fujiwara, the family of regents who dominated the imperial court from the 8th to the 12th century.

The four main sanctuaries, small vermilion buildings with curved roofs standing side by side, gave their name to the kasuga-zukuri style of shrine architecture. They have been rebuilt or renovated at intervals of around twenty years in the shikinen zōtai; the 60th renewal was completed in 2016. Covered corridors hung with bronze lanterns enclose the inner precinct, while stone lanterns donated over a thousand years line the approach through the woods.

According to legend, the deity Takemikazuchi arrived from Kashima in eastern Japan riding a white deer. For this reason the deer of Nara have long been regarded as sacred messengers of the gods.

The shrine was founded in 768, when Fujiwara no Nagate built four sanctuaries at the foot of Mount Mikasa for the clan's deities. The Fujiwara combined worship here with their clan temple Kōfuku-ji, and for most of its history Kasuga shrine and Kōfuku-ji functioned as a single religious complex, until the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868. Emperors and regents made regular pilgrimages, and the lanterns that fill the grounds record the devotion of nobles, samurai and commoners over many centuries.

Kasuga Taisha exemplifies the fusion of Shinto and Buddhism that shaped Japanese religion until 1868: its deities were identified with Buddhist figures, and Kasuga mandala paintings depict the shrine and Mount Mikasa as a sacred landscape. The Kasugayama Primeval Forest behind the shrine has been protected from logging since the 9th century as sacred ground.

The shrine's lanterns are lit all at once twice a year during the Mantōrō lantern festivals, at Setsubun in early February and on 14–15 August. The Kasuga Wakamiya On-matsuri, held from 15 to 18 December, is one of the oldest festivals in Japan, with a night procession and performances of ancient court music and dance.