Gangoji Temple

#Furitabi When the capital was moved to Heijō, Japan's first full-scale temple complex, Hōkō-ji (Asuka-dera), changed its character from a Soga clan temple to a government-run temple, and was newly built and moved to Gangō-ji (the place where Buddhism first flourished, the first place where Seikyō was established). Of the former Gangō-ji temple complex, the monks' quarters and part of the lecture hall remain, and the temple grounds were called Gangō-ji Gokuraku-bo in the Middle Ages and Nara Gokuraku-in in the early modern period. Other historic sites include the remains of the Gangō-ji Pagoda (the foundation of the five-story pagoda of the East Great Pagoda Temple) and the remains of the Shoto-in Temple (part of the West Shoto-in Temple), but most of the site is buried under the streets and houses. One cornerstone of the remains of the bell tower and three cornerstones of the remains of the lecture hall have been brought in from the excavation site and are being preserved. In addition, Futoden (a group of stone pagodas and stone Buddhas), which was developed in 1988, preserves 1,500 stone memorial structures dating from the Middle Ages to the Edo period that were enshrined in connection with the graveyard of the Daijo-in temple at Kofuku-ji Temple. Every year on August 23rd and 24th, a general memorial service is held with lanterns as part of the Jizo-kai Manto Kuyo, a festival that symbolizes the end of summer in Naramachi.