Gangōji

What is there

Gangōji descends from the first Buddhist temple in Japan, moved here from Asuka in 718 when the capital was laid out, and its main hall still carries roof tiles fired in the sixth century. The temple sits among the lanes of Naramachi, the old merchant quarter south of the deer park, and is one of the city’s World Heritage sites. Its halls show the tiles, the images and the small stone monuments of the quarter’s dead, and a corner of its history belongs to the demon of its bell tower.

Why here

In the oldest collection of Buddhist tales in Japan, a demon kills the boys who ring the temple bell at night. A farm boy of unnatural strength, born after a thunderbolt, waits at the bell tower, seizes the demon by the hair, and tears off its scalp as it flees; the demon turns out to be the ghost of a wicked servant. Gagoze, the name of the demon, became a word to frighten children with, and the Edo picture books gave it a robed, grinning shape. The oni of the article is the broad family; this is one of its oldest named members.

Yokai you will meet

• Oni 鬼 — The demon of the bell tower, caught by the strong boy in the eighth-century tale.

Getting there

Kintetsu-Nara Station (Kintetsu Nara Line). About 15 minutes on foot through Naramachi.

• Open in Google Maps (external link)
• Open in OpenStreetMap (external link)
• Official site (external link)