Bunkazai TabiA travel guide to Japan’s cultural heritage
Todai-ji: The Great Buddha Hall

The Great Buddha Hall

Photo: Balon Greyjoy / CC0 · Original · Resized and cropped

Nara period · Temples · National Treasures

Todai-ji

東大寺 (とうだいじ)

Nara, Nara

Built around the Great Buddha commissioned by Emperor Shomu, Todai-ji has National Treasure buildings that trace its history of fire and rebuilding: the Edo-period Great Buddha Hall, the Nandaimon Gate rebuilt by Chogen in the Daibutsu style, and the Tenpyo-era Hokkedo.

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Access and opening hoursNearby: 6

Key facts

Designation
National Treasures
Era
Nara period
Type
Temples
Location
Nara, Nara
Address
奈良県奈良市雑司町

Before you go

Opening hours
The Great Buddha Hall is open 7:30-17:30 from April to October and 8:00-17:00 from November to March. The Hokkedo (Sangatsudo) and Kaidando are open 8:30-16:00. The Todaiji Museum is open 9:30-17:30 from April to October (last entry 17:00) and 9:30-17:00 from November to March (last entry 16:30). The Nigatsudo can be visited 24 hours a day.
Closed
Open every day unless there is a special event or emergency.
Admission (adults)
The Great Buddha Hall, the Hokkedo (Sangatsudo), the Kaidando and the Todaiji Museum each charge ¥800 for adults. A combined ticket for the Great Buddha Hall and the museum is ¥1,200. Cash only.
Time needed
Check the official site
Getting there
From JR or Kintetsu Nara Station, take the city loop bus to Todaiji Daibutsuden Kasugataisha-mae and walk 5 minutes. From Kintetsu Nara Station it is about a 20-minute walk east along Noborioji Street. The temple has no car park of its own, so use a nearby paid one.
Best time to visit
The Shuni-e at the Nigatsudo, known as Omizutori, is held March 1-15. On August 7 the Great Buddha is ritually cleaned, and on August 13 and 14 the Great Buddha Hall opens free at night from 19:00 to 21:00. On New Year's Day the hall's Middle Gate opens from midnight to 8:00 for free visits.
Good to know
The Nigatsudo is open at night, but visitors are asked to keep quiet around the hall. On weekends and holidays in spring and autumn, Nara Prefecture runs free tourist car parks and the Gurutto Bus costs ¥100.

Checked against official information on November 12, 2026. Fees and hours can change, so please also check the official site before you go.

Sources for visitor information

Key facts

Designation
National Treasures
Era
Nara period
Type
Temples
Location
Nara, Nara
Address
奈良県奈良市雑司町

About this place

Todai-ji grew around the great Vairocana Buddha that Emperor Shomu vowed to build. The temple's chronology says that after Fujiwara no Hirotsugu's rebellion in 740, Shomu left Heijo-kyo and moved the capital several times, and in 743 he issued the edict to build the great Buddha at Shigaraki. When he returned to Heijo-kyo in 745, work resumed on the grounds of Kinshozan-ji, the predecessor of Todai-ji. Casting of the Buddha's body finished in October 749, and the eye-opening ceremony took place in April 752. The temple honors four figures, Emperor Shomu, Gyoki, Roben and Bodhisena, as the "Four Saints" who built it.

Most of the halls and towers standing today, however, are not from the Nara period. In 1180 the fire set by Taira no Shigehira destroyed most of the complex, and Chogen was appointed head of fundraising the following year to lead the rebuilding. The Great Buddha Hall was dedicated in 1195 but burned again in 1567 in the fighting of Miyoshi and Matsunaga. In the Edo period Kokei pushed the restoration, and the hall's dedication took place in 1709. The temple explains that today's hall was built with its east-west width reduced to about 60 percent of the Nara and Kamakura originals. The National Treasure Golden Hall (Daibutsu-den) is dated to 1705, in the mid-Edo period.

The Nandaimon (Great South Gate) best conveys Chogen's rebuilding. Its ridgepole was raised in 1199 and the gate was completed in 1203 together with its guardian statues. It is built in the Daibutsu-yo style, influenced by Song China: a five-bay, three-door, two-story gate whose eighteen great pillars rise nearly to the roof's interior, with a height of 25.46 meters above the base. The Kongo Rikishi guardians on either side, the open-mouthed and closed-mouthed figures, each stand close to 8.4 meters; the temple records that Unkei, Kaikei and others carved them in 1203. Repairs from 1988 to 1993 revealed sutras and inked inscriptions naming the sculptors inside the statues.

Besides the Great Buddha Hall, the Hokke-do (Sangatsu-do) and Nigatsu-do deserve a visit. The Hokke-do is regarded as Todai-ji's oldest building, thought to date from the Tenpyo era. It consists of a main hall and a worship hall, and the present worship hall was newly built by Chogen in 1199. Ten Nara-period statues designated National Treasures are enshrined inside. The Nigatsu-do burned in 1667 during the Shuni-e rites, and the present building was rebuilt two years later. Its name comes from the fact that the Shuni-e is held in this hall in the second month of the old calendar. Buildings from the Nara to the Edo periods stand here, tracing the temple's history of fires and rebuilding.

Buildings designated as National Treasures

  • Todai-ji Great South Gate (Nandaimon)

    Era
    Early Kamakura period
    Year
    1199
    Structure
    five-bay, three-door two-tiered gate (nijumon), hip-and-gable roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    June 9, 1951
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Hokke-do Hall

    Era
    Nara period
    Structure
    front five bays, side eight bays, hip-and-gable roof at the front, hipped roof at the rear, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    June 9, 1951
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Bell Tower

    Era
    Early Kamakura period
    Structure
    one bay wide, one bay deep, single-storied, hip-and-gable roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    June 9, 1951
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Golden Hall (Daibutsu-den, Great Buddha Hall)

    Era
    Mid-Edo period
    Year
    1705
    Structure
    five bays wide, five bays deep, single-storied with mokoshi (skirt roof), hipped roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki), with a karahafu gable on the front, copper-plate roofing
    Designated
    March 29, 1952
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Founder's Hall (Kaizan-do)

    Era
    Early Kamakura period
    Structure
    three bays wide, three bays deep, single-storied, pyramidal roof (hogyo-zukuri), tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    March 31, 1953
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Tegai-mon Gate

    Era
    Nara period
    Structure
    three-bay, one-door eight-legged gate (yakyakumon), gabled roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    March 29, 1952
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Honbo Sutra Storehouse

    Era
    Nara period
    Structure
    three bays wide, two bays deep, azekura log-walled storehouse, hipped roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    March 31, 1953
    See it in the Agency’s database

  • Todai-ji Nigatsu-do Hall

    Era
    Mid-Edo period
    Year
    1669
    Structure
    kake-zukuri (built on stilts), ten bays wide, seven bays deep, single-storied, hipped roof, tiled roofing (honkawara-buki)
    Designated
    December 27, 2005
    See it in the Agency’s database

Sources and date checked

Facts such as eras, structures and locations are edited and translated by us from the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ database of nationally designated cultural properties. The Agency and the national government did not produce this page.

Database of nationally designated cultural properties

Checked on November 6, 2026

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