is a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 in Nara

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

As of 2007, the city had an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 63,321 with a density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 630.01 persons per km². The total area is 98.92 km².

The city was founded on September 1, 1956.

Sakurai is home to Ōmiwa Shrine

Ōmiwa Shrine

, also known as , is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. The shrine is noted because it contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands. For the same reason, it has a , but no . In this sense, it is a model of what the...

, traditionally considered one of the oldest Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 shrines in Japan dedicated to the god of sake. Sake dealers across Japan often hang a wooden sugi ball, made at Ōmiwa Shrine, as a talisman

Amulet

An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...

 to the god of sake. It features in Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima

was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...

's novel Runaway Horses

Runaway Horses

is a 1969 novel by Yukio Mishima, the second in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did much research to prepare for this novel, including visiting locations recorded in the book and searching for information on the Shimpūren Rebellion .-Plot:Set between June 1932 and December 1933, it tells...

.

Famous places

• Buddhist temples
  Buddhist temples in Japan
  Along with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples are the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan.The term "Shinto shrine" is used in opposition to "Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. In...
  
  
  • Miwasanbyōdō-ji
  • Hase-dera
  • Asuka-dera
  • Tachibana-dera
  • Abe Monju-in
    Abe Monju-in
    is a Buddhist temple in the Abe area of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Dating to the seventh century, it houses a sculptural group by Kaikei, and a kofun within its grounds has been designated a Special Historic Site.-History:...
    
    
  • Seirin-ji

• Shinto shrines
  • Ōmiwa Shrine
    Ōmiwa Shrine
    , also known as , is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. The shrine is noted because it contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands. For the same reason, it has a , but no . In this sense, it is a model of what the...
    
    
  • Tanzan Shrine
    Tanzan Shrine
    , also known as the Tōnomine Temple , is a Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. It was a major Buddhist site before the anti-Buddhist movement of the Meiji Era, which led to the destruction of many Buddhist temples in Japan. The original temple, a 13-story wooden pagoda, was built in 678. The...
    
    
  • Kasayamakō Shrine
  • Tamatsura Shrine

External links

Official website