Yamato-Saidaiji Station

On 8 July 2022, Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan and a serving member of the Japanese House of Representatives, was assassinated while speaking at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Abe was delivering a campaign speech for a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate when he was fatally shot by 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami with an improvised firearm. Abe was transported by a medical helicopter to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, where he was pronounced dead.Leaders from many nations expressed shock and dismay at Abe's assassination, which was the first of a former Japanese prime minister since Saitō Makoto and Takahashi Korekiyo during the 26 February incident in 1936. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided to hold a state funeral for Abe on 27 September.Yamagami was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted murder, which was upgraded to murder after Abe's death was confirmed. Yamagami told investigators that he had shot Abe in relation to a grudge he held against the Unification Church (UC), a new religious movement to which Abe and his family had political ties, over his mother's bankruptcy in 2002.The assassination brought scrutiny from Japanese society and media against the UC's alleged practice of pressuring believers into making exorbitant donations. Japanese dignitaries and legislators were forced to disclose their relationship with the UC, and Kishida was forced to reshuffle his cabinet amid plummeting public approval. On 31 August the LDP announced that it would no longer have any relationship with the UC and its associated organisations, and would expel members who did not break ties with the group. On 10 December, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors passed two bills to restrict the activities of religious organisations such as the UC and provide relief to victims.

Saidai-ji (西大寺) or the "Great Western Temple" is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple was first established in AD 765 as a counterpart to Tōdai-ji and it is the main temple of the Shingon Risshu (真言律宗) sect of Buddhism after the sect's founder, Eison (叡尊), took over administration in 1238. It has undergone several reconstruction efforts since then during the succeeding centuries. One building, the Aizen-dō, houses a statue of Aizen Myō-ō, while the main image is of Shakyamuni Buddha, erected by Eison in 1249.

The Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (奈良文化財研究所, Nara Bunkazai Kenkyū-jo), also known by its former name, the Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties, is one of two research institutes that comprise the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, an independent administrative institution created in 2001. Established in April 1952 as part of the National Commission for Protection of Cultural Properties,A the institute is located in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan, with branches elsewhere in Nara Prefecture. The institute is divided into departments for the excavation and restoration of the Asuka Palace, the Fujiwara Palace, and the Heijō Palace, historical remains, gardens, and other archaeological sites, and for the study of documents from Japan's early history. The Asuka Historical Museum is also managed by the institute.

Heijō Station (平城駅, Heijō-eki) is a railway station on Kintetsu Railway's Kyoto Line in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan.

Kikō-ji (喜光寺) is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan. Founded in the eighth century, its Muromachi-period Hondō and the Heian-period statue of Amida Nyorai enshrined within are Important Cultural Properties.

Saki Hyōtanyama Kofun (佐紀瓢箪山古墳) is a burial mound, located in the Sakiemondo-chō neighborhood of the city of Nara in the Kansai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1971. It is often referred to as the Hyōtanyama Kofun (瓢箪山古墳), although there are many kofun with the same name throughout Japan.

Akishino-dera (秋篠寺) is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan. Founded in the eighth century, its Kamakura-period Hondō is a National Treasure.

Heijō-kyō (平城京, also Heizei-kyō, sometimes Nara no miyako) was the Capital of Japan during most of the Nara period, from 710 to 740 and again from 745 to 784. The imperial palace is a listed UNESCO World Heritage together with other places in the city of Nara (cf. Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara). Empress Genmei ordered the Imperial capital moved from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō in 708, and the move to Heijō-kyō was complete in 710. Heijō-kyō was modeled after Chang'an, the capital of Tang-dynasty China, although Heijō-kyō lacked walls. In the city, merchants and traders from China, Korea and India introduced various foreign cultures to Heijō-kyō through the Silk Road. As a result, Heijō-kyō flourished as Japan's first international and political capital, with a peak population of between 50,000 and 100,000. The overall form of the city was an irregular rectangle, and the area of the city was more than 25 km2.

Amagatsuji Station (尼ヶ辻駅, Amagatsuji-eki) is a passenger railway station located in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation company, Kintetsu Railway.

Heijō Palace (平城宮, Heijō-kyū) was the imperial residence in the Japanese capital city Heijō-kyō (today's Nara), during most of the Nara period. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre of for most of the Nara period from 710 to 794 AD, was located at the north-central location of the city in accordance with the Chinese models used for the design of the capital. The palace consisted of a daidairi (大内裏, also pronounced taidairi), a large rectangular walled enclosure which contained several ceremonial and administrative buildings including the government ministries. Inside this enclosure was the separately walled residential compound of the emperor or the Inner Palace. In addition to the emperor's living quarters the Inner Palace contained the residences of the imperial consorts as well as certain official and ceremonial buildings more closely linked to the person of the emperor. The original role of the palace was to manifest the centralised government model adopted by Japan from China in the 7th century—the Daijō-kan and its subsidiary Eight Ministries. The palace was designed to provide an appropriate setting for the emperor's residence, the conduct of state affairs, and associated ceremonial functions. After the capital was moved to Heian, the palace structures were either moved there or suffered several fires and other disasters and disappeared. The site was converted to agricultural use and almost no trace of it remained, however the location was still known. Excavations started in the 1970s and large-scale reconstruction based on contemporary literary sources and excavations starting in the 2000s. The excavated remains of the palace and the surrounding area were established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 along with a number of other buildings in the area such as the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara."

Shiozuka Kofun (塩塚古墳) is a burial mound, located on the border of the Utahime-chō and Saki-chō neighborhoods of the city of Nara in the Kansai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1975.

Tōshōdai-ji (唐招提寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Risshū sect in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Classic Golden Hall, also known as the kondō, has a single story, hipped tiled roof with a seven bay wide facade. It is considered the archetype of "classical style". It was founded in 759 by the Tang dynasty Chinese monk Jianzhen during the Nara period. Jianzhen was hired by the newly empowered clans to travel in search of funding from private aristocrats as well. Tōshōdai-ji is one of the places in Nara that UNESCO has designated as World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara". A reflection written by Yan Wenjing on the hope for friendly Sino-Japanese relations describing the author's discovery of lotus flowers imported from China which had been planted around the portrait of Jianzhen in the Tōshōdai-ji is included as one of the oral assessment passages on the Putonghua Proficiency Test.