is a village near the city of

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The center of Yagyū is about 20 km to the east, in the direction of

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

on Route 369, from the center of the city of Nara. In the context of tourism, also used to include neighbouring area to Yagyū-chō, which were mostly former territories of the Yagyū

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

, incorporated into the city of Nara in 1957. E.g. Including, but not limited to, , . The area was formerly part of Iga province.

Places of interest

Some famous locations of interest in ''Yagyū no sato'' include: * Hōtoku-ji (芳徳寺) *

Enjō-ji is a Shingon temple in the northeast of Nara, Japan. A number of its buildings and images have been designated National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, and its late-Heian period gardens are a Place of Scenic Beauty. History ...

(円成寺) * The home of the former

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

of the

Yagyū clan The were a family of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) with lands just outside Nara, who became the heads of one of Japan's greatest schools of swordsmanship, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. The Yagyū were also Kenjutsu teachers to the Tokugawa shōguns and de ...

(旧柳生藩家老屋敷 ''Kyū Yagyū-han karō yashiki'') The road leading to, and through, Yagyu is one of the most popular and enjoyable motorcycle rides in the Kansai area. Its popularity is well known in Nara, Wakayama, and Kyoto. Not only is the ride beautiful, but the technical aspects of the switchbacks, hairpins and fast left-handers make for an exciting ride (Route 4 in Nara Prefecture).

Notes

External links

Yagyū.com
an

Hōtoku-ji
Enjō-ji

Places of interest

Notes

External links

Further reading