What other travelers are saying about Kofuku-ji Temple
The ticket is 900Y for both hall. I only visited the Central Golden Hall which is 500Y.
To be honest, there's not much to see here. There are Buddha statues inside, but that's pretty much it. Compared of other temples. So, I give a rate of 3 stars.
The location is right next to everywhere else you are visiting in Nara which is a good thing. There's a train station nearby, Kintetsu-Nara station in case you're visiting directly from Kyoto or elsewhere.
We visited Kōfuku-ji during our trip to Nara and were instantly taken by its serene presence and historical charm. Located just a short walk from Nara Park, the temple stands tall as a testament to Japan’s deep-rooted Buddhist history, once part of the powerful Fujiwara clan’s temple complex.
The iconic five-story pagoda greeted us from afar—elegant and timeless. As we strolled through the grounds, we felt a sense of calm despite the presence of other visitors and curious deer nearby. The Eastern Golden Hall (Tōkondō) housed some impressive Buddhist statues, and although parts of the temple grounds are still undergoing restoration, it didn’t take away from the majesty of the place.
What made this visit personal was the way Kōfuku-ji blended with the city around it. It felt like a quiet anchor amidst the movement of Nara—a place where you could pause, reflect, and appreciate both history and the moment.
Just a wonderful experience seeing the deer and getting to feed them. A word of caution to folks, these are wild animals and will act as such. I had one deer try and get into my pockets looking for food and one buck rammed the back of my leg.to get attention. Overall it's a great experience but generally when you look on line you see the deer bowing and looking adorable so I just wanted to let you know they can be aggressive
Nice little temple complex with three different paid admission sites. Make sure you go to the east gate first and get the combo ticket, otherwise you'll pay more to visit each separately.
We were in Osaka..and just outside Osaka at Nara is a deer park, dotted by numerous shrines. These shrines belong to Shinto religion of Japan. Also there are some Zen temples. Kofukuji is one of the many such shrines. The main attraction is the deer park because when you feed the deers with food like crackers they NOD - like a bow. And you can bow back.
