Shin-Yakushi-ji

Shin-Yakushi-ji is one of Nara's most quietly rewarding temples, a small compound tucked into the peaceful Takabatake district on the eastern edge of the city, away from the crowds. It was founded in 747 by Empress Komyo, wife of Emperor Shomu, who prayed here for the recovery of her husband's failing eyesight; the name is often read as New Yakushi Temple, but the shin character here is better understood in its older sense of miraculous or efficacious, a temple of the wonder-working Medicine Buddha.

Originally Shin-Yakushi-ji was a vast complex laid out in the full seven-hall (shichido garan) plan, but fire and the long decline of the Heian period reduced it drastically. Only a single building, the present Hon-do or main hall, survives from the eighth century; everything else dates from a Kamakura-period revival. That lone survivor, however, is a National Treasure and one of the loveliest interiors in Nara. It is a low, wide, hipped-roof hall of great simplicity, and stepping inside from the bright garden into its cool dim space is a small revelation.

At the centre sits the principal image, a powerful wooden Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, also a National Treasure, carved with a commanding presence and wide, watchful eyes. But the reason connoisseurs make the pilgrimage here is what surrounds him: a circle of twelve life-sized clay statues of the Juni Shinsho, the Twelve Heavenly Generals, arranged in a ring on the raised central dais so that they seem to stand guard in every direction. Eleven of the twelve are original eighth-century works and together form a designated National Treasure, an astonishingly complete set of Nara-period clay sculpture. Each general has a distinct, fierce, marvellously individual face, frozen mid-snarl or mid-shout, and slowly circling the dais to meet them one by one is an unforgettable encounter with living, breathing ancient art. The figure known as Bazara is so admired that he has appeared on a Japanese postage stamp.

The visiting experience is intimate and unhurried. The grounds are compact and can be seen in about 40 minutes, the hall is single-level and easy to enter, and on a quiet weekday morning you may well have the Heavenly Generals almost to yourself. A modest garden surrounds the hall, pretty with cherry blossom in spring and maples in autumn, and the surrounding Takabatake lanes, dotted with small temples and the Nara City Museum of Photography just next door, invite a gentle wander.

Shin-Yakushi-ji lies about a 30-minute walk southeast from Kintetsu Nara Station through pleasant residential streets, or a short Nara Kotsu bus ride to the Takabatake stop. It is not on a JR line and so is not covered by the Japan Rail Pass, but the fare is small and IC cards work everywhere. For travellers who have already seen the headline sights and want something deeper and calmer, this is one of Nara's true hidden gems.