This year is the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Japan's first major capital, named Heijokyo, and its present-day home prefecture of Nara is basking in that ancient spotlight.
One sunny afternoon earlier this month, the downtown area of Nara City — which is just two train stations from the Heijokyo Palace site from where the country was run between 710 and 784 — was noticably more crowded with tourists than usual.
Nearby Nara Park — where more than 1,000 "sacred" deer roam free — was also thronged with busloads of visitors, including a group from Tahiti, drawn to its many ancient temples and other cultural lures.