Living in Ikaruga Town

A village in western Nara that is about 22 minutes to Osaka Tennoji by direct train, home to a World Heritage temple. The commute is short, yet the rural environment is preserved.

Ikaruga Town in Nara Prefecture, about 22 minutes by direct train from Horyuji Station on the JR Yamatoji Line to Osaka Tennoji Station. Horyuji, built by Prince Shotoku in the time of Empress Suiko, is the oldest wooden building in the world still standing and in 1993 became Japan's first UNESCO World Heritage site, and the wooden half-lotus meditating Maitreya statue at nearby Chuguji is also famous. However, it is a typical rural village with rice fields spreading out, and there is almost none of the entertainment area or shopping infrastructure of central Osaka or Nara. It suits single-person households and office workers who commute to Osaka and Nara and want to live quietly amid the scenery of historic temples.