Living in Ando Town

A compact village that is the third smallest among all towns and villages nationwide, and it takes about 40 minutes to Osaka once you reach the neighboring station. Traditional handicrafts have been carried on here.

At 4.31 sq km in area, a compact village in Nara Prefecture that is the third smallest among all towns and villages in Japan; to get to Osaka, you go to JR Horyuji Station and take the Yamatoji Rapid, which takes about 40 minutes. It is a traditional industry center for making lamp wicks (tomyo) that continues from the mid-Edo period, and wicks made here are still used to light the Omizutori ceremony at Todaiji's Nigatsudo. Throughout the village, the Nakaga residence, a nationally designated Important Cultural Property thought to have been built around 1659, remains just as it was, surrounded by a double moat. With no station, a car is practically essential, so it is a neighborhood that suits households who want quiet rural atmosphere rather than a public-transportation commute.