Higashimuki Shopping Street

Running north from the east exit of Kintetsu Nara Station toward Kofuku-ji temple, Higashimuki ("facing east") is Nara's main shopping arcade, its stores built facing the temple under a centuries-old rule of the Fujiwara clan. Today it holds more than 60 shops and eateries selling Nara specialties: kakinoha-zushi (persimmon-leaf wrapped sushi), kamameshi rice cooked in small iron pots, handmade udon and mochi sweets. It grew into a proper commercial street after Nara Station opened in 1915, and remains the town's busiest food-and-shopping strip.