Eastern Nara's Flower Temples: Hasedera, Muro-ji & the Soni Highlands — 2 Days

The head temple of the Buzan Shingon school, climbing a hillside by way of a 399-step roofed staircase lit by hanging lanterns and flanked, in late spring, by some 7,000 peony plants. At the top, a great wooden hall on stilts holds a towering gilded Kannon and opens onto a view across the valley. Called the 'Temple of Flowers', it is beautiful in any season — peonies in spring, hydrangea in summer, maples in autumn.

¥500 adult (approx. 2026); hours vary by season, roughly 8:30-17:00 in summer. The Peony Festival runs mid-April to mid-May (peonies peak late April-early May). Reach it from Hasedera station, a 15-minute walk up a shop-lined approach. Yamato-style somen and kusa-mochi are local treats.

In the preserved Edo town of Ouda-Matsuyama sits the oldest surviving private medicinal-herb garden in Japan, laid out on a hillside behind the Morino family's kuzu (arrowroot) shop in the early 18th century to grow medicinal plants for the shogunate. Some 250 species still climb the terraced slope, and the walk up among them, with the old town below, is a serene and unusual stop few travellers know.

Small admission (approx. 2026); modest hours, often closed in winter — confirm before visiting. The Ouda-Matsuyama townscape below, with its old pharmacies and merchant houses, is free to walk and pairs well with a lunch stop. The Morino shop still sells hand-made Yoshino kuzu sweets.

A restored thatched-roof farmhouse above terraced rice paddies in Fukano, deep in the Murou hills, rented to a single party at a time. Around an open irori hearth, with a wood-fired bath and a wide veranda looking out over the valley into the Murou-Akame-Aoyama Quasi-National Park, it is a place to do almost nothing — watch the mist lift off the paddies, soak, and let the eastern mountains close around you.

Whole-house rental; two villas exist (the 200-year-old 'Zao' and the newer 'Ozunu' with three gardens and a century-old tea room). Rates vary (2026) — confirm directly. Remote: arrange transport from Muro-guchi-Ono station or drive. Bring or pre-order provisions as the host advises.

A Shingon mountain temple set in a deep cedar gorge, long known as the 'Women's Koya' (Nyonin Koya) because it welcomed female pilgrims when the great monastery of Mt. Koya barred them. Its five-story pagoda — among the smallest and oldest in Japan, and exquisitely proportioned — stands among the trees, and in late spring some 3,000 rhododendrons flush the slopes pink. A steep stone stairway climbs past hall after hall to the inner sanctuary.

¥600 adult (approx. 2026), open 9:00-15:30 (reception to 15:00); treasure hall extra. Rhododendron peak mid-April to early May; autumn maples are superb too. A special opening of the Kondo runs in 2026 (late March to early July) — confirm dates. Across the river from the bus stop; the inner climb is steep.

A high grassland bowl below Mt. Kuroso, filled with susuki — silver pampas grass — that catches the light and turns the whole slope gold in autumn. Trails loop up around the small Okame pond and onto the ridge for wide views into the surrounding peaks. It is one of those landscapes that draws Japanese travellers for a single season and stays empty of foreign visitors year-round.

Open 24h, no closing days; parking ~¥800/car (approx. 2026). Susuki season is roughly early October to late November (golden by mid-November); a controlled grass-burn (yamayaki) is held around mid-March. Outside autumn there is no pampas display — come for the walk and the views. Best reached by car.

The hot spring at the foot of the Soni Highlands, a handsome modern bathhouse of cypress and stone with indoor and open-air baths fed by a smooth, alkaline 'beautifying' water. After a walk on the cold uplands it is exactly the right close — soak with a view toward the hills, then eat at the adjoining farm restaurant, which serves Soni tofu, local beef and trout.

Open ~11:00-21:00 (to ~20:30 in winter); modest entry fee (approx. 2026). The Farm Garden complex alongside has a shop and restaurant. From here it's a drive back to Muro-guchi-Ono or Nabari station for onward trains. A fine place to end the eastern loop.