• Brief description: despite having been rebuilt twice due to fires, Todaiji temple remains the world's largest wood construction. Inside the main temple, Daibutsuden, we find a Big Buddha protected by two sculptures and accompanied by pictures of other deities and protector kings. The statue was built for the first time in the year 746 and, with its 16 meters high, is one of the largest bronze figures in the world. The position in which remains - mudra - means the power to grant wishes. On the back of the temple there is another popular attraction: a wooden pillar with a hole in its base that has the same size as the Big Buddha nostril. The Japanese believe that if you are able to pass through this opening you have a guaranteed place in the Buddha heaven. 
• Duration of visit: 1 hr
• Cost: 500¥
• Opening times: it always opens at 9:30. They close at different times; from November to February they close at 16:30 / March and October they close at 17:00 / and from April to September they close at 17:30. 
• How to get there: follow the indications on the map (a 20-min. walk from Kofukuji).