3 Best Sights in The Kansai Region, Japan

Nara accounts for about 90% of Japan's sumi ink production, and for 400 years Kobaien has made fine ink sticks for calligraphy and ink painting. More recently, some types of sumi ink have been used for tattooing. From November to April the shop also offers ink-making workshops for ¥4,000.

This well-to-do merchant's house has been thoroughly restored, making it a quick trip through the Edo period. English pamphlets are available.

So just what are those red cloth animals on pieces of rope outside houses in Nara? Called migawarizaru (substitute monkeys), they are hung on the eaves of houses to ward off illness and accidents. There is a monkey for every member of a household ready to suffer illness and accidents in place of its owner. The migawarizaru are just one of the many traditions that have lived on in Nara-machi. The Nara-machi Shiryokan displays many other artifacts relating to the history of this neighborhood.