Japan’s Nara promotes nighttime activity to change ‘day-trip only’ image

Travel & Leisure

New sake bar, after-hours museum events aim to give tourists more reasons to stick around

Naramile, opened in October at Nara Park Bus Terminal, offers local sake to visitors. (Photos by Hiroshi Furuta)

HIROSHI FURUTA

February 22, 2026 11:01 JST

NARA, Japan — Nara Park, a free-entry estate famous for its roaming wild deer, is often crowded with international tourists feeding senbei crackers to the animals. But most visitors are day-trippers.